


Dreams: An Autumn Cantata

by meslunettes



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: And slightly...supernatural? you'll see, Angst, Cheesy scenes as well you have been warned, Corporate AU??, F/M, I can't decide on what to classify this story as, Mentions of Comatose, Modern AU, Rated M for some mature scenes, Rebirth/Reincarnation AU???, Romance, With eventual happiness. I promise. I think., menntions of car accidents, mentions of hospitalizations, soulmate au?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:48:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 83,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27777118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meslunettes/pseuds/meslunettes
Summary: In modern day Fodlan, Claude von Riegan was haunted by dreams of an ancient lifetime and of a certain woman that his unconsciousness  deemed to be the love of his life and soulmate. Then, one day, fate has brought him to meet her through a chance meeting. From that meeting, he felt as if his life has never been happier and more complete than it was with her presence.But sometimes fate has its own twisted way of granting oneself their deepest wishes.--A story of soulmates and unbreakable bond of love that transcends lifetimes, death and those in-between.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), My Unit | Byleth/Claude von Riegan
Comments: 74
Kudos: 132





	1. A Thousand Years

**Author's Note:**

> Hello children! It's been a while. I am gifting this lovely ship with another (sigh, multi-chapter) fanfiction. This is a very experimental story for me to write because I am dabbling into things I don't generally write (e.g: poetry, mature scene writing and certain genres). I hope you all will still enjoy it regardless and if you do I thank you in advance for coming through this journey with me. I initially wanted to have this done shorter and finished by end of October but ha ha....as I wrote the story kept on expanding...and expanding and I think I will be done writing the entirety of the story by mid-December. (Yes I have around 2/3 of this fic written already).
> 
> This fic also made me dig into a whoole emotional side of me because I ended up listening to a lot of romantic/emotional nostalgic songs to keep my creative flow going, which I decided to name the chapters of this fic after (and also why the fic name is called Cantata).  
> Special thanks to **aurics** for being my superstar beta-reader.

_Two-thousand years or five_

_As the moon changes and goes by_

_Verdant eyes void of lie_

_I will seek you for all my life_

_  
-_

_  
“Would you fall for me again if we meet in another lifetime?”_

_  
Claude turned to the woman standing next to him. Light turquoise hair flowed over her back, and glimmering eyes of the same hue met his green ones. Her porcelain skin was gently illuminated by the moonlight, the white dress that shrouded her figure making her seem ethereal._

_  
Absolutely beautiful, he thought, reaching out a hand to caress a side of her face gently._

_  
“My star, I would live with you forever if I could and that would not be enough,” he answered her question, honesty embedded in every word._

_  
The woman smiled and leaned further into his touch._

_  
“What about you? Would you choose me once more if you were given another chance?” he asked in return._

_  
The woman, his lover, grabbed the hand that hovered over her face with her soft ones. She planted a brief kiss over his knuckles before looking back up at him._

_  
“Whether it’s the past or two thousand years from now, you will be the one I search for. You are my home and my heart.”_

_  
__She pulled him down towards her slowly, her eyes half-lidded and her cheeks tinted with a lovely tinge of pink. He met her advances, planting his lips on her soft, warm ones and felt himself immediately lost in a flurry of passion. He wrapped his arms around her soft figure and…_

_  
-_

  
“Claudee...hellooo? Claaudee, wake-up!”

  
Claude blinked his eyes slowly, the shrill voice calling him pulling him out of his doze. Once he regained clarity of his surroundings, he was met with three other people standing in front of his desk. A pink-haired and a brown-haired woman along with a red-haired man.

 _  
Right, meeting with marketing and PR_.

  
Claude groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he leaned forward from his office chair. He internally lamented the interruption he received.

  
“Ugh, how long was I out?” Claude asked no one in particular. The dream he had just a few minutes ago soon buried at the back of his mind. 

  
“You were already snoozing when we entered your office,” the woman with pink hair, Hilda Goneril - Garreg Mach Corporation’s Digital Communications Manager - pointed out.

  
“Burning the midnight oil again boss-man, or maybe a late-night tryst?” The man, Sylvain Jose Gautier, asked him with a smirk. Trust the ever-confident and frivolous Head of Communications to induce a headache out of him at an inconvenient hour of the day.

  
“The deadline for Garreg Mach Institute’s proposals and project plans are closing in, of course I’ll be drowning with work,” Claude deadpanned. “As all of you should be.”

  
“Well, we’re very sorry that we're not bearer of good news when it comes to your workload,” Dorothea Arnault of Marketing and Sales said in a singing tone, “but we need your input on how we can build the project portfolio for our Almyra counterparts.”

  
“Yes of course,” Claude nodded with an exhale. He cocked his head towards the set of sofa and chair at the corner of his office. “Let’s talk over there.”

  
The meeting took around two hours to conclude. With an extensive explanation from Claude of Almyran customs and business culture, the four of them were finally able to come up with a practical marketing rough draft to Garreg Mach Institute’s Almyra partnership program. Sylvain was able to grasp the kind of language that will be effective for Almyrans' press releases along with several potential event rundowns for public relations purposes. It didn’t take long for Hilda to procure several ideas of social media campaigns that would be made possible with the company’s lead graphic designer Ignatz Victor. Dorothea managed to come up with leads for potential investors and donors to market to.

  
“All right, I say this was a productive session,” Sylvain remarked as he closed the binder in his hands.

  
“It’s fortunate for us that you have influential ties in both Fodlan and Almyra,” Dorothea nodded at Claude.

  
He shrugged. “It's the only reason why I'm leading the Leicester and Almyra partnership project.”

  
“Well, it gets the job done,” Sylvain threw a wink at him.

  
“In any case, thanks again for your help leader-man,” Hilda said, standing up from where she sat on the corner sofa of his office. The rest of them followed her lead. She dusted her skirt before looking up back at Claude. “You’re still coming to Red Canyon later right?”

  
“Yeah. Edelgard, Dimitri and I will head there after we finish our meeting with Rhea and the rest of the board members,” Claude nodded. Red Canyon was probably the one thing he was looking forward to that day.

  
“Okay, great,” Hilda grinned, “don’t be too late.”

  
\---

  
“You know, for what started out as a corporate social responsibility initiative, Garreg Mach Institute’s project plan has grown quite massive,” Dimitri commented. He, Edelgard and Claude were walking in step on the sidewalk towards Red Canyon, a pub not far from their towering and expansive complex of their technology and energy development company. The street-light lit the roads next to them, the lanes bustling and packed with cars of commuters exiting the little office city towards the nearby town of Remire or the outskirts of the three provinces of Fodlan. Blaring horns broke the peace the evening was meant to offer. The rowdiness of the hour was a reason the three executives decided to forego the inconvenience of a car to travel on foot instead.

  
"Not at all surprising. Rhea and the rest of the Nabatean family have been adamant in creating private educational institutes for a while," Edelgard remarked to their head of Faerghus project..

  
Dimitri nodded. "I can't wait to see it come to fruition. In a matter of a year or two we will have dedicated STEM-based education centers in all three regions of Fodlan and hopefully enrich academic experience amongst the youth."

  
"Rather than the youth, I think it was meant to secure access to natural resources from our neighbouring countries along with investors," the Adestria project lead pointed out.

  
At Edelgard's comment, Dimitri huffed. "You will prove to be a lacking superior if you seek profit in everything."

  
Edelgard turned to Dimitri, eyebrows knitted slightly. "And you will prove to be a lacking businessman if you cannot see the hidden intentions behind social initiatives."

  
Claude rolled his eyes at the exchange. "Oh joy, another debate between the two Highnesses." He folded his hands behind his head, keeping his attention to the sight in front of him. "Whether it's for profit or not, I'm happy about the prospect of stronger partnership between Fodlan and neighboring countries.”

  
“You mean a stronger partnership with Almyra specifically,” Edelgard raised her eyebrows at Claude.

  
Claude chuckled at Edelgard’s comment. “Well, we do have the largest natural gas and oil reserves in comparison to other neighboring regions. Is it a wonder why they are big-shotting 

us?”

  
“Have you figured out how you’ll incorporate Almyra into the Institute’s plans?” Dimitri asked.

  
Claude removed his arms from where it was folded behind his head. He put a hand in the pocket of his pants while the other scratched the side of his head before he spoke. “I have some ideas but I need to sleep on them a little bit more. Though I have talked to Sylvain, Hilda and Dorothea today, and come up with actionable marketing plans and pitches for high profile investors I know."

  
Edelgard tilted her head slightly as she kept her attention on him. Claude could feel her calculating eyes analyzing him. Meeting her gaze, he raised his eyebrow at her in silent question.

  
"I've always wondered what exactly your lineage is back at Almyra, since you seem to know a lot of influential people over there," Edelgard noted.

  
"That is true," Dimitri nodded, "are you related to a high-ranking politician perhaps?"

  
He chuckled at their observations. Astute as they were, it wasn't the first time people have come up and asked him for more information about his other bloodline. Nor would it be the last time he would deflect the question with half-truths.

  
"Oh it's nothing that exciting, my old man back there is some businessman who gets around and has some relatives in high places, is all," he answered, keeping his tone nonchalant. "Anyway, enough work-talk, you two." 

  
They arrived at a building with traditional Fodlanese features -- three stories high and boasting an impressive array of georgian variant and true-arch window panes, the warm lightings of its interior painting the glass hues of yellow and orange. The lowest third of the establishment was painted in black, a contrast to the rest of the architecture covered in ivory. Low thumps of bass from speakers reverberated from the second floor of the building. Scrawled across the top of the wooden double door of the pub's entrance was "Red Canyon" carved in golden block letters.

  
Claude trailed his eyes over the writing, finding amusement in the choice of an ominous sounding name for a leisurely place. 

  
"Let's have some fun, shall we?"

  
\---

  
The pub usher, a slim man of average height that they have amicably nicknamed "gatekeeper" immediately recognized them as they walked through the entrance door. He nodded at them, exchanged brief pleasantries about the day while leading them up the stairs away from the noisy Friday night crowd seeking to relieve the burdens of the prior week.

  
Once upstairs, they were greeted with a different kind of rowdiness.

  
“There’s our three top dogs at last!” Sylvain announced boisterously, lifting the bottle in his hand to their direction as soon as he noticed the trio enter the pub’s private-hire room. Collective shouts and murmurs of greeting aimed at them followed suit from the various occupants of the room.

  
The venue was mainly a long rectangular room, a modest-sized bar taking up a good portion of its left side. Brown-leather lounge sofas were lined up against the window-side of the rooms, small square tables attached every meter. Three cocktail tables stood in the center of the room, and to one end of the venue was a wall-mounted flat screen TV with a karaoke machine. The room’s combination of purple and light blue paint gave the entire place a much more youthful feel compared to the rest of the establishment.

  
Scattered across the venue were several of their closest colleagues along with their significant others or friends, all of whom the three have been acquainted with before.

  
“There you all are, finally!” Hilda exclaimed, towing a woman with flowing sky blue-colored hair behind her. She stopped in front of them and up close, Claude could see the slight-reddening of Hilda’s face, a tell of hers whenever she has consumed a significant amount of alcohol.

  
“Hey Dimitri, you remember my friend Marianne riiight?” Hilda pulled the other woman to her front so that she was standing right in front of Dimitri. Claude had to blink for a second before recognition settled on him at Marianne’s unbraided hair-do, an unusual look that the Garreg Mach Hospital nurse was sporting.

  
“Oh, of course, how could I forget?” Dimitri managed to say once he got past his momentary startle. He gave a gentle smile at Marianne. “How are you Marianne?”

  
Marianne mirrored the towering blonde’s expression. “I’m great, thank you. And you?” she replied softly. Her attention shifted to the trace of scar etched on Dimitri’s right eyelid, a remnant of a biking incident several weeks ago. “I’m glad to see your eye is healing.”

  
“Ah yes, I got the best treatment from yours truly,” he nodded at her. “No more pirate’s eye-patch for me, matey,” Dimitri chuckled.

  
Claude had to hold back the desire to cringe at the man's attempt at a joke. Flirting, was that even an attempt? 

  
Judging by the strained expression Edelgard was giving him, he knew he was not alone in his struggle. Thankfully, Marianne didn't take the hopelessly straightforward man's attempt at courting in a bad light.

  
"You did look a little silly in it," she giggled, and the blush that appeared on Dimitri's face could be spotted from miles away. Hilda, who had been watching the exchange with a cheshire grin, tapped Marianne gently on the back. 

  
"I'm gonna go and make sure Caspar doesn’t accidentally get rowdy with anyone, you know how excitable he is when he has too many drinks" She turned to Edelgard and Claude, waving at them briefly before turning back on her heels back to the party. "Hey Claude, Edelgard, go and enjoy yourselves, yeah?"

  
They nodded at her as they watched her walk away.

  
"So, um," Dimitri spoke, "if you two will excuse me."

  
Edelgard rolled her eyes. "Oh, for goodness' sake, go on you big boar, no one is going to miss you here."

  
"Have fun you two~," Claude said in a teasing tone.

  
Once Dimitri and Marianne were out of sight, Claude decided to follow Edelgard to the bar for a drink before they both headed off to their respective mingling.

  
“You know,” Edelgard spoke as she watched the merriment of the people in the room, “have you ever found it strange how all of us here who are assigned to this project, including their friends and significant others, get along so easily?”

  
“Hm?” Claude glanced shortly at Edelgard before shifting his attention to the busy chatter around the room. “I think it’s a combination of the right kind of people in one place.”

  
Edelgard gave a low hum to Claude’s answer, tilting her head slightly in thought. “But don’t you ever get the feeling that all of us in this room have known each other much for longer than that?”

  
Claude scanned the room, taking in all the interactions happening around him. Dimitri and Marianne were engaged in a conversation in a corner. Sylvain was talking, or riling up, Felix Fraldarius, a Faerghus inspector and husband to Annette from the company’s R&D team for the Faerghus project. Dorothea was showing something to Ingrid Galatea from Business Development, Petra McNeary of Fodlan-Brigid affairs and Mercedes von Martritz from Human Resources. Around one of the cocktail tables, Ferdinand von Aiger, newly appointed Adestria’s Minister of Commerce and Dorothea’s long-term boyfriend, were discussing finances over drinks with Hubert von Vestra, the company’s Head of Finance and Lorenz Gloucester, Leicester’s deputy project lead.

  
In the venue’s only booth seating, Hilda was cozied up to her boyfriend Caspar von Bergliez, a player for Fodlan’s national football team. Claude spotted Cyril, his personal assistant from his department, talking to Ignatz about Almyra. Ashe Ubert from Sales and Dedue Molinaro of Duscur Affairs were listening to Linhardt von Hevring of R&D drunkenly chattering about new Crest projects, a mobile device brand that was the child-company of Garreg Mach. 

  
Lysithea from R&D was discussing her selection of drinks with Anette by the cocktail table. Not too far from them, Bernadetta von Varley, the company’s lead writer, was talking to Leonie Pinelli from Sales. The shy writer’s bulky personal-trainer boyfriend, Raphael Kirsten, was standing next to her inhaling his third burger of the night.

  
Claude had to admit that Edelgard’s observation carried a degree of truth. While there were a lot more people involved in the Institute’s project, it was the group of people in this very room that gravitated towards each other constantly. It didn’t take long after they were all assigned their respective roles in the project that bonds and friendship started to flourish between all of them. 

  
At a glance, they might seem to be a long-time tight knitted group. While that was true for some of them, a large number of them had only met each other since several months ago.

  
Rather than fate or of the like, Claude liked to think it was because all of them were accepting of one another. Call him a cheese, but he was always a sucker over the idea of people opening up their hearts and reaching their hands out to one another in friendship and whatnot.

_  
Just like that dream he had that one time._

  
He turned back to the bar where the bartender had slid his and Edelgard's orders towards them. Claude reached for the glass that evidently didn't contain his choice of drink.

  
"I think," Claude offered the glass in his hand to Edelgard with a grin, "that you need to drink and unwind Princess."

  
\---

  
The small party jointly hosted by Dorothea, Hilda and Ingrid turned out to be a celebration for Dorothea's engagement to Ferdinand, who happened to propose to her the week prior. The news was pleasantly received by everyone. Some, who knew the history of their relationship, took the development with a bit of mirth.

  
"I remembered how you complained to me constantly on how much you hated him before you agreed to date him," Ingrid grinned at the couple during a toast.

  
Ferdinand turned to Dorothea, a feigned hurt expression on his face.

  
"My love, whatever did I do to you to deserve such prejudice and treatment?"

  
Dorothea gave out a hearty laugh. She stretched out a hand towards Ferdinand and stroked the side of his face in soothing motions.

  
"It was a misunderstanding on my part, I thought this nobleman only paid attention to me due to my rise of fame back when I was in the opera house." Dorothea moved her hand down to entwine hers with Ferdinand's. She looked up at him, affection radiating through her eyes. "Turns out this man was just someone who had been smitten by me since he was a little boy."

  
"And forevermore I shall be. I will be the bee who tirelessly works and protects his queen until the end of his life," Ferdinand said before leaning down and planted a quick peck on Dorothea's lips.

 _  
Ugh, get a room_ , Claude lamented silently in his head. He smiled at them nonetheless, finding himself genuinely happy for his two friends' found happiness.

  
The party carried on. More drinks and food were served. Dorothea took over the karaoke machine, bestowing them all with a series of performances worth paying money for. And all the while, Ferdinand watched her with the most lovestruck face anyone has ever seen on him.

  
Claude felt someone plopping down next to him on the leather sofa.

  
"So, leader-man," Hilda drawled, propping her arm on his shoulder, "who do you think will get hitched next after this?"

  
"Oh I don't know," he replied, turning to look at his colleague and oldest friend, "is this your way of hinting to bet on you? Is Caspar thinking of proposing already?"

  
Hilda scoffed at his question. "Oh boo, we're not settling down anytime soon until we travel the world together." She removed her arm from Claude, letting herself stretch before cozying up lazily in her spot.

  
"'Nyway, don't all of these commitment festivities make you want to find someone yourself?"

  
Claude let out a huff. "I'm not really looking for someone right now Hil."

  
"You don't even bother to try. You will get close to someone for like two weeks and then decide to quit not long after. What is up with that?"

 _  
Oh, you wouldn't believe me if I told you_ , Claude answered in his head.

  
"Anyway, I think..think it's time you require divine intervention," Hilda chided, slurring her words slightly. "There's this little shrine somewhere in Zanado Historical Site dedicated to a Saint Cethleann. People say if you pray there for love, your wish will come true. You should give it a try."

  
Claude scrunched up his face at Hilda's suggestion. He didn't believe in divine help in general. He was a firm believer of self-effort in achieving one's means, and that included the relationship game. In a situation where two people were required to commit to each other through thick and thin, he found it ridiculous to rely on a cultist belief or the hand of the divine. And if he should meet the one he was destined to be with someday, let it be because both of them wanted to put in the effort and work for each other, and not from a reliance on something akin to fate.

  
Except…

\---

...except Claude might have just left all hopes in finding the person he was meant to be with to fate. Or God. Ironically.

  
He took off his dark brown blazer and black shirt before dropping down to his bed. He stared up at the darkness of his room, taking in the alcohol buzz permeating his head from the party earlier. He rolled over to his side, turned his bedside table light on and reached out for a thin, black paperback book that was lying on top of the dark wooden table. 

  
He traced a finger along its spine, feeling the folds and cracks. The front cover was a minimalistic design of a crescent moon, a streak of shooting star meeting its curves. In cursive, “The Crescent Moon and The Fell Star” was printed across the top. In tiny letters underneath it was the mark of the author, "Sothis".

  
The book was no different than other contemporary poetry books that had been largely published around. He had picked up this book about two months ago. The cover and title drew intrigue from him but the prose inside…

  
It was as if the author was talking directly to him, answering his calls to a question that he had posed all his life.

  
For as long as Claude remembered, he had been plagued with recurring dreams. Well, plagued might not be the correct word to describe them. It's not that he hated those dreams per se. But they still haunted him all the same.

  
He dreamt of a younger version of himself; guarded, coy, distrustful, the rebellious braid he remembered he had donned a long time ago out on display proudly. He dreamt of himself at the age he was now, King of Almyra fighting for the equality that he did not have the privilege of, unlike the present. He dreamt of an older Claude, enjoying the fruits of his labor for a peaceful world. In his dreams he wielded a bow; sometimes ones that lit up in his hands, the bow a bright orange, the arrows a blazing flame of red.

  
And in all those dreams, there was one constant that made him want to return to that fantastical world buried within the depth of his unconsciousness over and over again.

  
A woman with sky blue eyes. Or turquoise. Depending on the time. He didn’t really understand the drastic changes in her appearance. But regardless of how she looked, Claude would still be able to recognize her by how she made him feel. Trusted, safe, supported.

  
Loved.

  
She was the beginning of all the cycle of dreams that he had when it came to that mysterious world. In fact, it was almost as if his dreams were present just for him to meet her. The first time it happened, he was around thirteen. It didn’t bother him until he kept having recurring dreams and events regarding her. They didn’t appear every night, but it was frequent enough that he knew it was no ordinary hallucination. 

  
He confided to his mother and father of it and they took him to see an Almyran dream interpreter. She told him that his soul was yearning for his destined, a rare unbreakable bond between two people that transcended time and lifetimes. With the right circumstances, that bond would awaken and find each other. This lifetime, apparently, was a time where all of its awakening circumstances had been met.

  
Thirteen year old Claude was immediately in awe at the idea.

  
Now that he was in his late twenties? They seemed too ridiculous to be real.

  
Yet the dreams didn’t stop. And right now, the mysterious woman of his dreams had carved such a prominent place within his mind that no real-life suitors held a candle to the flame she created in him. And he didn’t even know her name. He always called her by nicknames in his dreams - Teach, my friend, my star, my love. Every time he was at a point close to finding her rightful title, he was immediately brought to consciousness. 

  
She was his destined, so she should be around and alive somewhere. Yet in such an interconnected period of time, he still hadn't come across anyone with a semblance to her. He was at a point close to surrender until he stumbled upon the book he was holding in his hand a few months ago. 

  
He was so sure she wrote it. 

  
Sothis was a pseudonym. He contacted the publisher of the book who told him that she was only available to reach by e-mail. Much to his disappointment, the few e-mails he had sent to her had been left unanswered.

  
And so the book in his hand was the only lead he had to the biggest mystery in his life.

  
He opened the book, allowing its string of words lull him to sleep like it did so many times in the past.

\---

_  
In the golden ballroom_

_You took my hand_

_Underneath the star studded skies_

_We wished for a peaceful land_

_I decided to be by your side_

_Your dreams and hopes, in my heart they reside_

_  
-_

_  
"How about we pray for our ambitions to come true? You don't exactly seem like the selfish type, but even you must have an ambition or two."_

_  
She was her younger self, shoulder length blue hair and eyes. They were alone, secluded up in the confined room of a tower - the Goddess Tower. From the large arc of the glassless window, the twinkling night stars painted the clear night sky. Faint, far-off tune of waltz filled in the silence of the air._

_  
“More of a hope,” she replied to his question. Claude had to suppress the curiosity to ask. Not yet, he told himself._

_  
“That's what I thought,” he found himself chuckling at her. “No one is ever completely satisfied. Everyone has something they long for. Otherwise, what's the point of it all?”_

_  
She nodded. “I suppose you’re right.”_

_  
He didn’t mean to ramble on further, but being in the tower alone with her, and her listening with undivided attention to him, it gave him the courage to open up his heart to her a little bit more. And before he could stop himself, he found himself saying “..If you would... I would love for you to share in those ambitions with me, Teach.”_

_  
Her eyes widened slightly, and he was glad he caught it. He loved finding the little hints of emotions that would slip off her normally stoic face. He wasn’t sure how she would react and he was already armed with further ramblings to divert the conversation, but Teach spoke up before he could say a word._

_  
“Of course. I will try my best to support you no matter what, Claude,” she said. A faint smile graced her face and Claude found his pulse racing at the sight, at her response. A flush of warmth permeated his body, unfamiliar but something that he had been searching for a long time. Was this what it felt like to trust?_

_  
He cleared his throat before continuing. “All right, well, let's pray to the goddess before she tuckers out for the evening. OK... Here goes…”_

_  
He talked on, leading the prayer, throwing in bits of sarcasm grandeur to lighten the suddenly heavy atmosphere. It really didn’t mean anything to him, the prayer that came out of his lips. But, against his logical, goddess-defying self he found himself praying that the woman next to him will truly share his dreams and ambitions until long into the future and will grace him with her presence for a long, long time._

\---

Sundays were for leisure. Any normal working person right now would be relaxing, having fun and spending time with their loved ones.

  
Unfortunately for Claude, he had to spend a good portion of his Sunday on a hot date with his office monitor.

  
Well, at least he got the part of spending time with his loved ones in. Albeit not in the most conventional sense.

  
“So yeah, that’s the gist of it. My colleagues will be in touch with them but I just wanted to make sure the investors will be open to the idea ahead of time,” Claude spoke to his phone that was propped up against the base of his monitor. Looking back at him from his phone screen was a man roughly in his 60s, face covered with thick, dark beard and a tanned complexion.

  
“Son,” the man spoke, his voice low and booming, “they know who you are. As long as it is you who asks, they won’t even consider closing their doors.”

  
Claude rolled his eyes at the man’s comment. “ _Baba_ , just because we are a kingdom doesn’t mean we are dictators.”

  
The man gave a boisterous laugh before a woman’s voice caught his attention.

  
“Ehab, is that Khalid?” the voice asked. Claude felt himself chuckle at the mention of his other name being used.

  
The man, Ehab, nodded. “Yes, habibti.”

  
Claude could hear a series of footsteps pacing closer to the phone. Immediately, not long after that, a woman’s face cut off his view from Ehab, her fair complexion, green eyes and ash-brown hair a little too close for comfort to her camera.

  
“Hello, Khalid! Nice of you to call in, _finally_!” she exclaimed gleefully. However, Claude knew from years of living with her that there was hidden annoyance behind her tone.

  
“Hi mama,” he smiled at the woman. “Sorry for not calling, been busy on this side of the border.”

  
“Tiana, move back a little, I can’t see him,” Ehab whined. Claude saw his mother taking a few steps backward before settling in next to his father. 

  
“Tsk, look at you always working. No date for tonight? No progress with your soulmate search?” 

  
Claude sighed at Tiana’s questions. _Here we go again_.

  
“No ma, I am too swamped right now for that.”

  
Tiana brought a hand to her face, feigning an overly-dramatic dejected guise. “Khalid, when oh when will you be able to give me grandchildren this way?”

  
“You already have grandchildren,” Claude deadpanned.

  
“That’s _his_ grandchildren,” Tiana pointed a thumb at Ehab. “I want one from you.”

  
“Well, I’m sorry for being your only son,” Claude retorted back.

  
Their banter went on back and forth for a couple more minutes before Ehab brought back Claude's attention back to the business they were discussing earlier. Hearing the conversation returning to official discussions, Tiana decided to excuse herself, but not before she threatened Claude of disowning him if he did not bring someone to introduce to her the next time he visits Almyra. 

  
To that, he kept no promises.

\---

The skies of Garreg Mach were already painted orange by the time Claude left the office. Combined with the autumn season, everything around him right now was bathed in hues of golden, red and orange. He loved autumn, from its colors to its weather. It was cool enough for a light jacket, but wasn’t biting like winter would be. Autumn reminded him of an Almyran winter. The weather was specifically the reason he chose to walk instead of driving his car.

  
A decision he suddenly regretted at that moment.

  
As he passed by the busy pathwalk leading to his apartment building, he noticed how everyone around him was somehow mainly coupled together. Pairs walked together hand in hand, cuddled on benches or snuggled on a patch of grass together. The sidewalk cafes and restaurants were oddly filled with couples on dates.

  
It was as if the universe was conspiring against him with Tiana. Claude was suddenly made very aware of his own loneliness.

  
So lost in thought was he that he paid no attention to his surroundings until he felt himself hit something. Or someone. The impact was hard enough that he dropped the folder he was holding in his right hand. A sudden gust blew a piece of loose paper from it.

  
“It’s okay, I got it,” he heard a voice say. It was a woman’s voice. Calm, steady and strangely...familiar.

  
He crouched down to grab his folder before returning to stand up and face his accidental victim.

  
“Hey thanks, and sorry about that, I wasn’t paying atten...tion...”

  
Claude felt his breath taken away from him once he got a good look at the person standing in front of him.

  
She had her blue hair tied up in a ponytail. A black cardigan over a white turtle-neck shirt underneath, a chain connected to a ring hanging around her neck and fell just above her chest. She had on navy blue jeans which hugged her legs perfectly. She was softer and slimmer than the one in his memories, but regardless of the little differences he recognized her.

  
It was those eyes. They were sky blue. But whether they were blue or aquamarine he would recognize them from the way they would pierce through his soul.

  
Claude felt his eyes widened, mouth slightly agape without him realizing as he looked at her, mesmerized.

  
“Um, here’s your paper,” the woman smiled at him, offering the paper she held in her hand.

  
“Oh right,” Claude gave her a nervous chuckle as he took the paper from her. “Sorry again about that, I hope you’re okay.”

  
She shook her head. “Not to worry about it.”

  
There was a few seconds of silence as they stared at each other. Against Claude’s better judgement, he stretched out a trembling hand towards her, wrapping it around one of her wrists. The woman perceived his action with surprised caution but Claude found himself unable to let go. 

  
“Um...I’m sorry, may I know your name?” Claude found himself asking. He could hear the rapid thumping of his heartbeat.

  
The woman’s eyes scanned his face, analyzing him before she spoke with a slightly restrained smile. “I’m Byleth Eisner.” 

  
“Byleth,” he let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. It was a name he had never heard before and yet strangely, felt as if he had been calling that name all his life. Suddenly, he felt as if a puzzle piece that had been missing all his life had come into place. A puzzle piece in the form of the porcelain-skinned woman bathed in autumn evening light standing in front of him.

  
She was as gorgeous as her shadow in his fragments of imagination.

  
“Hi, Byleth,” Claude greeted with a shaky breath. “My name Claude von Riegan.” 

\---

_And all along I believed, I would find you_

_Time has brought your heart to me, I have loved you for a thousand years_

_-A Thousand Years, Christina Perri_

  
  
  



	2. My Confession

Claude had done some stupid things in the past before, he would admit. He was a human being with plenty of flaws, after all. As intelligent as he was, he was prone to make mistakes at some point.

  
But there were some mistakes he would probably lament for years and months to come.

  
Case in point, his first ever encounter with Byleth Eisner. Or rather, the girl of his dreams. Literally speaking.

  
How could he be such an idiot? He was so caught up with not wanting to see Byleth disappear from his sight that he didn't realize how tactless he had been towards her. He was a stranger, an unknown man and he had probably been the one to walk into her. Out of all the things he could possibly have done to remedy the situation, he had chosen to grab her arm and forced her to give him her name without any prior explanation.

  
Talk about some stalker moves.

  
Byleth had been gracious enough to quell his curiosity. Once logic finally got the better of him and he let go of her wrist, Byleth told him that she was in a hurry and had to leave, turning away from him before he could say anything else to her.

  
"But wait, Byleth! Can I…"  _ have your contact information _ , was what he wanted to ask but she was already on her heels, vanishing into the sea of weekend crowds.

  
Every inch of him wanted to chase after her. His common sense, however, put a halt to that thought. She was probably running away from him out of apprehension and he might make matters worse if he ended up running after her. Begrudgingly, he continued his way back to his apartment, each step he took becoming heavier as he got closer to home.

  
The first thing he decided to do once he reached home was to turn on his laptop and scour the realm of the internet on anything he could find of Byleth Eisner. Pending proposals be damned, the mysterious woman he had dreamt about all his life was of paramount importance.

  
To his disdain, there wasn’t much he could find out about her. He managed to come across three of her social media accounts. Of these, two were unfortunately, locked accounts. The third was a professional networking account which didn’t really let him know much about her as a person. But he did find out that she was a secondary school teacher in Remire Town. Claude couldn’t resist a chuckle at this discovery, his gaze locked on the headshot Byleth had uploaded as a profile picture. 

_  
A teacher _ , just like the Byleth of his dreams.

  
He spent the entire night debating whether he should send a follow request to one of her private accounts or not. Would that be the right move? Or would that make him seem desperate and, in lack of better words, a creep?

  
In the end, he decided that haste was not the best course of action. He needed a solid and well thought-out scheme. She was not some girl he could casually slide into the DMs of. He had literally dreamed of her for more than half of his life and, destiny aside, the anticipation of finally meeting her had manifested into one of the driving forces in his life, as much as he hated to admit it sometimes.

  
Sabotaging this was not an option.

  
Remire was his first course of action. He could probably procure a reason to pay a visit to her school and casually convince the other staff to share some information about Byleth with him.

  
Another thing that kept him wondering was what she was doing at Garreg Mach. Could it be that she didn’t work at her school anymore and was actually employed somewhere much closer to him? What if she was an employee at Garreg Mach Corporation this whole time and the universe was playing a cruel game of hide and seek with him?

_  
Thwack! _

  
“Ow!” Claude grimaced, bringing a hand to rub the sore spot on his head where he was hit by the mysterious object, breaking his trail of thoughts. He turned to his right with a glare. A middle-aged woman with long, tied up dark hair frowned back at him from where she sat in the conference room. Her arms were crossed across her chest and in one hand, a thick roll of papers, her weapon of choice.

  
“What the heck was that for, Judith?!”

  
Judith von Daphnel was the senior advisor for the partnership project, specializing on Leicester’s side of management. Prior to this assignment, she had extensive work advising in high-profile projects Garreg Mach was involved in. She was known for her tenacity, quick-wit and an absolute lack of fear to speak her mind regardless of anyone's position over her.

  
“Boy, did you even pay attention to anything that was said just now?” she asked sharply.

  
Well, no.

  
“I fear the fate of the Leicester-Almyra division with such an absent-minded person as our leader,” Claude heard Lorenz sigh.

  
“Honestly, Claude, with the deadlines closing in it’s no time to be spacing out,” Lysithea chided.

  
“All right, all right,” Claude muttered, waving a hand to the rest of the room. "My bad everyone, no need to gang up on me. Lorenz, can you please repeat the  _ five minutes _ I missed just now?”

  
The Leicester project lead sent a deadpan expression at Claude’s direction. “I was just summarizing the potential budget plan proposed by Hubert. You can read it from Cyril’s meeting minutes later.”

  
Cyril gave his affirmation at the mention of his name. Claude didn’t miss the brief disparaging look his personal assistant threw him, however.

  
“So what got you so distracted the whole day today, leader-man?” Hildan asked with a smirk, a finger twirling a strand of her tied-up hair.

  
“Ah, could it be trouble of romance?” he heard the gleeful low voice of Nader, his Almyran advisor, from his left. Trust Nader to make a snide-remark that hit the point, as someone who had been with Claude for most of his life.

  
Claude was just glad that there was no one else in the room who has the innate ability to rile him up even more. Someone like Sylvain. Or god forbid, Yuri Leclerc from Abyss Legal.

  
Somehow, following Nader’s comment, the meeting had turned into a speculation forum of his personal life.

  
Claude generally didn’t like pulling rank over his colleagues, but for one reason, he was not having it today.

  
Mustering his most authoritative glare and tone, Claude eventually said, “If none of you have any other input relating to the project, then I think we can end this meeting now.” 

  
\---

\---

  
The sky was already dark the moment Claude left the office. The rush-hour traffic had begun to dwindle down thanks to his later-than-normal hours. The traffic did not make a difference to him, however, as he once more decided to forgo his car and return home by foot.  _ For autumn weather’s sake. _

  
Okay, that in itself was a big fat lie. He was honestly hoping he would run into Byleth once more on his way home. Even if the probability of such a chance encounter was low, he would seize every possibility and chances he could find.

  
He shuddered briefly, putting his left hand in the pocket of his camel-coloured jacket and gripping the straps of his small laptop bag hanging off his right shoulder closer to him. He forgot how biting the cold of some autumn nights could get. Maybe walking home was not the best idea after all.

  
Just as regret over his self-imposed predicament began to well-up, it was washed away no sooner as it appeared when he spotted, at the end of the sidewalk he was trudging on, the far-off figure of the person he had been searching for since yesterday. Forget that it was dark and the fact that he had only met her the day before. Seeing a version of her in his dreams for more than a decade had made him an expert on discerning her from any crowd. His breath hitched and he quickened his pace towards her. 

  
She turned to his direction once he was close enough. Surprise was etched on her face briefly before a smile of recognition bloomed across her features and Claude felt his heart skip a beat. She shifted from where she stood and stepped slowly towards him. They stopped at their tracks once there was only a small distance between them.

  
In that moment, Claude thought that nothing else around them existed except the two of them. She, looking up at him with a smile that hinted familiarity. Him, looking down and meeting her eyes, panting slightly from his quickened pace.

  
She looked lovely, bathed in the soft flow of the streetlights. She was in a similar attire as the day before apart from her hair which she had decided to let loose down to her shoulders.

  
Byleth was the one to speak first.

  
“Hi,” she greeted him softly. “I was hoping I would run into you.”

  
Claude felt his breath catch at the back of his throat once more.

  
“Funny you should say that,” he said with a grin, trying his best to mask the tremble in his voice, “because I was just thinking of the same thing.”

  
Byleth chuckled at his response. “Well, here we both are.”

  
“Yeah..”

  
Silence passed between them as they both stared silently at each other, eyes locked onto one another. For Claude’s part, it wasn’t that he didn’t have anything to say. On the contrary, there were so many words that begged to slip out of his lips that it overwhelmed him to the point of silence.

  
“Listen, I -” they both started at the same time. They paused, glancing at each other once more before simultaneously breaking into small fits of laughter.

  
“Ladies first,” Claude managed to say after gaining some composure for himself. Byleth scoffed, albeit good-naturedly at his choice of words.

  
“Well I…” she started, tucking one side of her hair behind her ear, “I wanted to apologize to you for how I acted yesterday. I think it was rude of me for running off like that.”

  
Claude shook his head. “No, not at all,” he cut her off, “I’m the one who should apologize. I think I came off as a bit of a creep yesterday.”

  
A corner of Byleth’s lips quirked up. “You did come on a little strong.” She tilted her head to one side slightly. “But I didn’t think you had bad intentions.”

  
“Believe me, I really don’t. It’s just…” Claude paused, rubbing the side of his neck, “...it’s a little hard to explain.”

  
Byleth gave a low hum at his response. “Well then, Claude right?”

  
“That’s me,” he nodded, the sound of his name on her lips sending an exhilarating jolt through his body. 

  
“Would you like to take a stroll around the park with me? If you’re up for it, that is,” Byleth asked.

_  
I’d follow you to the end of the earth if you asked me to _ , Claude confessed silently in his head.

  
“Yeah sure, that sounds good. I’m free for the evening,” he found himself saying instead. That is, if he ignored the budget proposal plan Lorenz had forced him to go through for the night. But nevermind that, Claude was no stranger to all-nighters.

  
“Great,” Byleth smiled. “Shall we?”

  
“Lead the way, my friend.”

  
They fell into slow, easy steps together, making their way to the modestly-sized public park that was conveniently across the street from them. In the middle of their short journey, Claude couldn’t help asking Byleth for the reason why she was at Garreg Mach in the late hour, a nagging question at the back of his mind.

  
“I’m staying with my friend Flayn who currently lives in this area. She owns the Little Fables cafe down the street, if you are familiar with it.”

  
Claude did know of the establishment. He had spent some of his more leisurely weekends - those he chose to spend in Garreg Mach instead of visiting his home at Derdriu - at the small book cafe. He found himself visiting there alone more often recently with his new favorite book by the mysterious ‘ _ Sothis _ ’.

  
“I’ve been there a couple of times. Funny, I’ve never seen you around though,” Claude pointed out.

  
“It’s only been recently,” Byleth remarked flatly.

  
There were only a handful of park-goers when they reached their destination. Several late-night joggers along with couples held hands as they walked together. Some huddled up on a bench or a patch of grass. In dedicated smoking corners, people in suits and similar workwear attires released the weight of their day’s burdens with each drag and puff of their cigarettes into the cool, night air. Chirps of crickets permeated the atmosphere, serenading their songs into the quiet night.

  
“Let’s sit over there for a minute?” Byleth nodded towards a lone park bench, the towering light next to it its only company.

  
“Sure.” Claude followed her lead and slid into the bench with her, leaving a small, tangible gap between them. A few seconds of silence passed between them as they both stared off at the small, artificial lake placed in the center of the park, decorated by a brilliant array of floor lights around its outer edges.

  
“I was a teacher in Remire,” Byleth spoke, breaking their silence. “I’m sort of in-between things now, that’s why I’m here.”

  
“Yeah?’ Claude said, turning to her. “Trying to find a new job?”

  
Byleth shook her head. “What I’m looking for is something more philosophical...spiritual perhaps.”

  
Claude raised an eye-brow at her. “And you think you will find that by moving to a tech-hub?”

  
“Oh, who knows,” Byleth chuckled at him, “nowadays everyone depends on technology as if they are divine saviors. Maybe coming here will make me see their light and turn me a convert.”

  
Claude let out a laugh at Byleth’s paradoxical quip. “You’ve got a point there.” 

  
His reaction prompted a gentle shift in her eyes. Claude was suddenly overcome with warmth despite the chill of the air around him. 

  
“Anyway, Claude,” Byleth began once more, “earlier you said you had a reason behind your actions yesterday.” She propped up a hand and leaned her face against her knuckles. “Do you mind telling me what that is?”

  
Claude blinked, taken a little off-guard by her question. He averted his gaze from her prying blue eyes for a few seconds, staring off into the night as he thought of the best response to her question. 

  
“This will sound like the most terrible pick-up line but I can’t explain it any other way,” he chuckled, “I think I’ve known you for quite a while and I’ve been wanting to meet you.”

  
“Why is that?” Byleth asked, intrigue etched on her face.

  
Why? Because he had dreams of her, of a semblance of her shadow, for more than half his life. Had spent a significant number of years being with her, building trust and loyalty in his unconsciousness which eventually evolved into love and affection. Had gone through moments of heartbreak and joy with her and not scarcely did he dream of times spent in fervent passion with her, scenes that were so real they would jolt him awake and send him straight for a cold shower immediately.

  
But how could he say any of that?

  
“Now, I was thinking that before you become privy to the how and why, we should get to know each other a bit more and build more trust between us first,” Claude gave Byleth a lopsided grin. “Also, I don’t want to be seen as more of a lunatic than I already am to you.”

  
“Oh, I’ve seen worse,” Byleth remarked with a hint of mirth. “But I believe you,” she added. 

  
Claude could only detect blunt honesty from her tone, free from any underlying scepticism and judgement.

  
“I think the same way as well,” Byleth continued, “when I saw you yesterday, I thought I’ve met someone I’ve known all my life. It took me by surprise...that’s the reason I ran.”

  
At Byleth’s admission, Claude suddenly felt a sense of weightlessness, the buried fear he had kept deep inside from the thought of his dreams unrequited dissipated in an instant. He could feel his sceptic side relenting once more to the idea of ‘ _ destined _ ’. Maybe there was something to the concept after all.

  
“Care to elaborate on why you thought that way?” Claude found himself asking Byleth in return, leaning just a smidge closer towards her. Byleth remained steady at her spot, her blue eyes twinkled with the reflection of the streetlight behind him as she took in his close proximity. He could feel the faint warmth of her breath on his face.

  
“You’re keeping your secrets, so I’m keeping mine,” she answered him. “But you’re right, I think we should get to know each other a little better before we let each other in more secrets.”

  
Claude leaned back from her as he let out a laugh. “Okay, fair enough,” he grinned. “How about we start over again then?”

  
He offered an outstretched hand. “Hey, Byleth Eisner, my name is Claude von Riegan. Happy to finally meet you.”

  
Byleth stared at the hand offered to her for a few seconds before offering her own with a smile. The feel of her smaller, softer hand in his was electrifying. This was real, and not just a momentary hallucination in the recesses of his mind.

  
“Hi, Claude. I’m Byleth.” Her smile, Claude noticed, reached up to her eyes and a hint of tenderness graced her face.

  
“I’m glad I finally found you.”

  
\----

_  
Fate may have brought me to you _ _   
_ _ But fate did not connect hearts of two _

_  
We are our own destined _

  
\---

  
They settled into light conversations afterwards. Claude began telling her of himself, his job and of his mixed heritage. She told him of herself, her teaching job at an underprivileged school in Remire and of her family. She used to live with her parents and twin brother Elias. 

  
Claude discovered that she loved to fish and garden, but she also loved to read and write, passions that came with her teaching of literature and history. At the mention of writing, Claude wanted to ask her of Sothis but decided against it as the topic would then lead to the secrets they both agreed to withhold for the moment. He made a mental note to save the topic for later once they were better acquainted. 

  
Through each word that was exchanged, they both gave away a piece of themselves to each other, as much as they would allow at that point. Both of them gauging each other’s reactions, a careful dance by two souls who had been seeking one another. 

  
Between jokes and small laughters exchanged, Claude didn’t realize how much time had passed until he shivered from the sudden drop of temperature in the late night. Byleth noticed his discomfort to the weather and suggested they continue another time. Claude agreed and this time, he made sure that they exchanged contact information before parting ways.

  
\---

**Claude** : Hey, it’s Claude. Did you get home safe?   
  
**Byleth** : Hi Claude. Yes I did. Did you reach home already?   
  
**Claude** : Yep. Just got here. Going to go over some work for a bit before heading to bed.

**Claude** : Listen, I had a great time tonight. Thanks for spending time with me.   
  
**Byleth** : No problem. I enjoyed myself too.   
  
**Claude:** When can I see you next?

**Byleth** Do you want to meet at Little Fables tomorrow at 8 p.m?

**Claude** : Yes. Will be there!

**Byleth** : Great. I’ll see you tomorrow. Good night Claude.

**Claude** : Good night Byleth.

  
That night, as he laid down on his bed, Clade felt like a missing puzzle piece in his life had finally come into place.

  
Tomorrow couldn’t come faster for him.

  
\---

\---

  
Claude almost practically skipped as he made his way to Little Fables from work. He made sure that all his pending tasks were completed for the day. He might have even gone the extra mile and covered several future tasks that he could find. Just in case.

  
He slowed down his pace once he reached the small book cafe, the white cursive neon sign hung on its front giving away its mark. The cafe was a two story building which expanded vertically rather than horizontally. Bookcases laid out against the wall can be seen through the large bay window which made up half the front entrance of the cafe.

  
Claude took a deep breath before stepping into the place, the door opening with the chime of the small golden bell attached to it.

  
“Welcome to Little Fables,” a youthful looking woman with long sea-green hair Claude recognized as the store-owner greeted him. “Oh, hi Claude! How are you?

  
“Hey Flayn,” Claude nodded at her with a smile. “I’m good. I’m here to see Byleth, is she here already?”

  
Flayn’s eyes widened at him. “Oh...you’re the one she’s meeting with?”

  
“Yeah,” he chuckled. “She didn’t tell you?”

  
Flayn shook her head. “She only told me she’s meeting someone. I just didn’t realize…” She paused for a few seconds before looking back up at him with a smile. “Nevermind that. She’s here already, let me show you to her table.”

  
Claude’s eyes narrowed slightly at her. There was something odd in the smile that Flayn gave him just now. It didn’t reach her eyes like her smiles normally would and it was almost...melancholic? 

  
Before he could wonder further, Flayn was already ushering him to follow her up the stairs. As he climbed the stairs, his gaze wandered around the cafe, taking in its familiar interior that was a blend of antique and vintage furnitures. The busy evening crowd downstairs was a stark contrast to the empty and quiet atmosphere of the upper floor, a space dedicated mainly for reading with only a handful of tables for dining. Right now, the entire floor was completely void of people save for one person sitting at the back dining table, looking out at the window next to her. Claude recognized the shoulder-length blue hair.

  
Byleth turned to their direction as she heard his and Flayn’s footsteps approaching her. Her face brightened and Claude felt his heart beat faster.

  
“Evening, Teach,” Claude greeted her with a grin, causing Byleth to quirk an eyebrow up at him at the nickname. “I hope I didn’t make you wait long,” Claude said as he slid into the chair across from her.

  
“Not at all, I was a little early myself,” Byleth replied with a smile.

  
They both remained smiling at each other for a few seconds before Flayn cleared her throat, redirecting their attention towards her. “So, Claude, what would you like to have?”

  
“Nothing too heavy for me tonight. I’ll just have the stir fry and my usual drink,” Claude muttered as he glanced over the menu laid out in front of him. He looked up at Byleth. “Are you getting anything?”

  
“I already gave my order to Flayn,” Byleth replied. Claude nodded with a hum. He handed over the menu back to Flayn, thanking her quickly before she walked away, leaving him and Byleth in the sole company of each other.

  
“So your usual drink,” Byleth chuckled slightly, “I’m guessing it’s the Almyran Pine Needles tea?”

  
“One and only, you do know me after all,” Claude grinned, propping a hand on the table and leaned his chin against it. “Care to venture other guesses about me?”

  
“Hmm…” Byleth curled her finger in front of her lips. “You like savory dishes, especially ones with steaks and poultry. You dislike sweet things.”

  
Claude raised his eyebrows. “I’m impressed, my friend, it’s as if you can read through me.” He planted his hands on the table and leaned forward closer to Byleth. “Okay, my turn.”

  
He paused and scanned his eyes over Byleth’s face and features as if in thought of his answer. In truth, he didn’t need time to think, already armed with guesses at the back of his mind. But he wanted an excuse to be able to take a good look at her, a part of him still in disbelief that she was sitting across him in the flesh.

  
“You like pretty much anything although you have a slight preference for tea and fish dishes.”

  
An approving smile grew across Byleth’s face. Claude carried on. “Your favorite color is blue.”

  
“You’re half correct there,” Byleth interjected. “I find myself liking the color green for the longest time as well.”

  
“Oh,” Claude blinked out of curiosity, “why is that?”

  
“It’s the color of nature, it’s warm, it’s home and…” Byleth averted her gaze from him, red streaks bloomed across her cheeks, “...it’s the green of your eyes,” she added quietly. But Claude caught her whisper and felt as if an arrow was aimed at his chest. He brought a hand to cover his face, which he knew was gaining heat at lightning speed. Stars, he did not sign up for a Byleth that was this straightforward and unknowingly did unthinkable things to his heart.

  
He certainly didn’t mind though. He cleared his throat before speaking once more.

  
“Heh, thanks,” he said, rubbing the side of his head, “but these old things don't compare to yours. Your eyes are beautiful,” he ended up saying without thinking, but meaning every word of it. The shade of crimson on Byleth’s face increased by a degree and both ended up staring at each other in stunned silence.

  
Fortunately (or not), Flayn came up to them a few seconds later, tray with their orders in hand.

  
“Did I interrupt something?” she asked them both with a knowing smile. Both shook their heads profusely and Claude immediately diverted the topic to their food. As they commenced their dining, the conversation between them shifted to their day. Claude found himself telling Byleth more than he anticipated.

  
“I know a partnership has to be established and securing an energy deal is part of the renewable energy research, but I can’t decide on the best method to incorporate Almyra into the project,” Claude said after swallowing his food, “do I want to invite Almyran scientists to be professors here? Bring in some Almyran technology over with distant consulting? There are budgeting issues at hand so I can’t choose the most optimal course.” 

  
Byleth placed her utensils on her plate before giving Claude her full attention. “So a lot of it involves bringing something from outside here?”

  
“That’s the vision that Rhea and the executive boards have,” Claude shrugged.

  
Byleth tilted her head to one side. “But it’s not yours, right?”

  
Claude paused, the spoon in his hand stopping midway to his mouth. He placed it back on his plate instead.

  
“No, it’s not,” he admitted grudgingly.

  
“Can I give you a personal perspective?” Byleth asked.

  
“Please do.”

  
“As a former teacher and daughter of someone who had worked and traveled all across Fodlan,” Byleth began, “I can say that you’d be surprised at how little a large number of Fodlanese know of the outside world, despite the access to information we have and our ability to travel cross-borders with a little more ease in recent years.”

  
Claude took in her words with attentive silence.

  
“The project sounds promising, but I think there’s a potential benefit that far outweighs the technical side of things if there’s an inside-out opportunity, like student exchanges to Almyra” she added, “seeing a new world and being exposed to new perspectives can teach a person about themselves as they learn and unlearn from the experience.”

  
If Claude wasn’t entirely convinced by the idea of destined and soulmates before, this particular moment with Byleth convinced him that she was, indeed, his destined. How else could she simply recite thoughts that had long been buried deep in the recesses of his mind as easily as if he was an open book? And he knew, from experience, that he was not a person so easily read by others.

  
“Of course, it can’t be helped that there’s the financial roadblock. If only there’s a way to overcome that,” Byleth sighed.

  
“Yeah,” Claude grabbed his cup and took a sip from it. “ _ If only _ .”

  
\---

  
They talked until they were the last two customers in the cafe. And this, they only realized after Flayn had come up to them and informed them that it was five minutes past closing time.

  
Claude and Byleth immediately stood up from their table and apologized to Flayn for keeping her back at work. As they made their way downstairs, Claude took the opportunity to ask Byleth to meet the next day, because a few hours was not enough. Byleth only agreed if they could meet in Little Fables and Claude didn’t mind; he rather liked the intimacy that the cafe provided them just now.

  
“Bye Flayn, thanks and sorry again for keeping you late,” Claude said to her once he finished paying for both of their bills.

  
“It’s all right,” Flayn waved a hand at him.

  
As Claude turned to Byleth, their eyes lingered on each other, a hidden yearning for more than a simple goodbye lurking within. But they both knew it was not the time yet, especially not while Flayn was watching.

  
“See you tomorrow, By,” he finally settled on saying.

  
“Good night Claude,” she replied back, a soft expression on her face. Claude resisted the urge to reach out and touch. Of what, he’s not sure but even a strand of her hair would satisfy him at that moment. He resisted once more regardless and instead, turned on his heels and stepped out of the building, leaving Byleth and Flayn behind.

  
He paused on his tracks once he was a few steps away, chancing a look back at Little Fables’ front window. Byleth must have gone back inside somewhere because all he could see through it was Flayn organizing the tables and chairs one last time.

  
He didn’t miss the look Flayn gave him before she noticed he was staring back at her. It was that sad melancholic face again. It wouldn’t bother him as much if not for the fact that he had an unsettling gut feeling it had something to do with him and Byleth.

  
And he wasn’t sure if he wanted to know the reason why.

  
\---

\---

  
The first time they held each other's hands was on a Thursday night, three nights after their first meeting at Little Fables. They had spent the two nights prior at the little book cafe, talking, dining, laughing and enjoying the company of one another. The attraction and magnetism Claude felt they had was inexplicable. It was far beyond physical attraction and superficial chemistry, although Claude wouldn’t deny that Byleth was beautiful and, dare he say, sexy, with soft curves that accentuated her figure in all the right places. 

  
But it was more than that. The ease with which they both were able to connect was that of two people who had known each other for a long time. He felt safe in her presence to the point where he would allow bits of vulnerability slip from himself. She was also apt in catching his non-verbal cues; a feat not many people who knew him were able to do, let alone someone who had just met him several days ago.

  
After three consecutive days at Little Fables, Byleth suggested the park as a change of scenery, and also a way to give poor Flayn a little respite as they had unintentionally kept her behind at work each time with their visits.

  
And so there they were, walking side by side through the nearly empty park while Byleth told him more about her family. She told him of her former military instructor Jeralt, her mother Sitri who has a chronic heart condition and her twin brother who had decided to follow Jeralt’s footsteps in military education. As they talked, the back of their hands occasionally brushed against one another.

_  
BZZT _

  
Claude felt his phone vibrate and took it out from his pocket. He turned to Byleth, “Hey, sorry, this is someone from work, do you mind giving me a minute?”

  
“Not at all, go ahead,” Byleth shook her head. Claude took a few steps away from her as he tended to the call.

  
“Ow!” he heard a loud groan that sounded like Byleth not long after he started talking. He turned back to her direction and saw her staggering on her feet slightly while rubbing her left arm. Not too far from her, he spotted a tall-built jogger huffing and chuffing away into the night. 

  
“Hey Lorenz, I have to go now, just send me the files and details over email, I’ll look them up tonight,” Claude hung up the phone before Lorenz had a chance to reply.

  
“By, you okay?” he ran over to her side with a worried frown on his face.

  
“Yeah, I’m okay, I wasn’t paying attention just now and bumped into the man jogging over there,” Byleth replied with a faltering smile. Claude threw a glare in the direction of the man, who was at too far a distance for him to call out. He didn’t even stop to check if she was okay. What an ass.

  
“I’m really okay, Claude,” Byleth scoffed at him and he realized he had said those thoughts out loud.

  
“All right, if you say so,” Claude reluctantly replied. He saw Byleth’s gaze directed downward between them, amusement played across her face. He followed her trail of gaze... and realized he had taken hold of one of her hands in his frenzy.

_  
Okay, calm down _ , he could simply apologize and let go.

  
Except Claude couldn’t find the will in himself to let go. Not when her smaller hand fit so perfectly in his, her warmth and softness are the ones he had been searching for and trying to reach out to for many years. With a gulp, he looked up and met Byleth’s eyes.

  
“Well, maybe it’s best if I keep a close hold of you. It seems you have a talent for getting into accidents with strangers,” he said with a grin that was meant to mask his nervousness more than anything. He wasn't really sure how Byleth would react to his advances.

  
Byleth quirked an eyebrow at him. “I’m not that fragile Claude,” she said, but before Claude could say anything and retract his hand, he felt her fingers curl around his. “Although you have a point, strangers bump into me a lot it’s almost a curse. Maybe I do need extra safeguarding.”

  
Claude broke into the widest grin he had ever mustered in his life. He shifted their hands so their finger intertwined. “I’ll gladly take up that task.”

  
They walked together hand in hand for the rest of their stroll. Bathed under the gentle light of the crescent moon, both were unwilling to let go of the other’s warmth and closeness that they felt emanating from the hand within their grasp.

  
\---

\---

  
Their first kiss was on a lazy Sunday afternoon, sitting together under a tree by a remote lakeside park at the edge of Remire. Byleth chose the place after Claude suggested that they meet in the daylight for once. Claude offered to drive them and in exchange, Byleth had volunteered to cook their food for the day. 

  
He picked her up by Little Fables. She was already waiting for him, dressed in a long black coat, pants, a pink scarf wrapped around her neck, holding a picnic basket in hand. She looked positively adorable.

  
They spent the ride there alternating between a quiet, comfortable silence and debating music choices. Byleth loved slower older songs whereas Claude preferred more upbeat tunes. In the end, they both settled upon classic pop hits, a compromise of the two.

  
Once they reached the park, Byleth led them to a spot under a towering orange tinted tree that provided them decent shade from the sun along with a beautiful panoramic view of the lake. As they ate ( _ and Claude found out, to his delight, that Byleth was a very capable cook _ ), Byleth told him of stories of the many kayak and fishing trips Jeralt had taken her and Elias at the lake.

  
“Hey, Claude,” Byleth spoke, breaking the peaceful quiet that danced around them as they both gazed lazily upon the lake.

  
“Yeah?” he replied, eyes remaining locked on the lake, but his hand that covered hers in the small space between them gave her fingers a squeeze, letting her know she had his attention.

  
“Do you enjoy going to places like these?” Byleth asked, turning to face him. Claude looked back at her with a puzzled expression.

  
“I realize I’ve been asking you to come to quiet and nature-oriented places, I was wondering if you actually liked them,” she explained a little sheepishly.

  
Claude chuckled at her words. “Actually,” he said, “I’m really glad that you had us come here. I prefer these kinds of dates than the typical dining at a stuffy restaurant.”

  
“Yeah?” Byleth asked, a relieved smile spreading across her face.

  
“Definitely,” Claude nodded. He directed his gaze back to the distant lake. “Back in Almyra I loved spending my time out in the wild, riding horses through the plains, camping out in the desert. Being out in nature is freeing, relaxing and there is judgment around.”

  
Byleth’s eyes softened at Claude’s words. “Tell me more about Almyra.”

  
Claude’s lips quirked up. “Like in Fodlan, you can find mountains over there. But as you get further to the east, you’ll find pine tree forests and plains filled with wild horses as well as beige sandy desert dunes. There are four-legged mammals with humps on their backs. Oh, and there are only two seasons in Eastern Almyra: summer and cooler rainy weather. But in the desert it can be really hot during the day and turn really cold at night for most of the year.”

  
“Sounds like a wonderful place,” Byleth commented, “I would love to visit someday.”

  
“I’ll take you there soon,” Claude turned to her with an excited grin. His grin faltered slightly when he noticed Byleth’s distant stare towards the lake, sadness etched in her eyes. He furrowed his eyebrows. 

  
Why did she look so sad?

  
Before he could ask, Byleth turned back to face him, the sorrow he saw on her face moments ago replaced with a twinkling excitement.

  
“Oh, that reminds me, do you have an Almyran name?”

  
Claude blinked at Byleth, taken off guard by her question. “Come again?”

  
“Dad used to tell me that many of the Almyrans he met across Fodlan would adopt a Fodlanese name to assimilate better here, and to make it easier for us to call them by,” Byleth explained, “I’ve been wondering if Claude is your original name…”

  
Claude was left stunned for a few moments. When he could sense his brain turning once more, he found himself unable to hold back a roaring laughter that bubbled within him. He wasn’t entirely sure why he felt the need to laugh.  
  
Byleth blinked at him. “Did I say something wrong?"  
  


Claude shook his head as he regained some composure. “No, not at all...it’s just that I realized in all my years of living in Fodlan, you are literally the first person to ask me about my real name. I don’t even think any of my friends have asked me that.”

  
Byleth frowned at his words. “Like I said, not many Fodlanese are aware of things like that.” She shifted her eyes away from Claude, casting her eyes down to their intertwined hands. “Besides, I’ve always disliked the idea since I first heard it. Your name is your first ever eternal gift from your loved ones. It carries their prayers and hopes for you. Even if that wasn't the case, people shouldn’t expect you to change it just because it inconvenienced them to try and say it,” Byleth chuckled lightly to herself. “That’s my opinion anyway.”

  
It was precisely those perceptive insights of hers that made Claude irrevocably smitten with her so quickly. They were honest, they didn’t beg for others' approvals and they were completely hers. It was her frank nature that made Claude feel he could trust her with everything. And it was also her delicate sense of sympathy for others that made Claude feel safe to share his vulnerable side. He wanted to tell her everything. He didn’t want to keep anything hidden from this wonderful person. 

  
Soon. Not now.

  
But he could let one tid-bit of information slip.

  
“My name… the name I was given at birth,” Claude said, looking at Byleth straight in her eyes, “...is  _ Khalid _ .”

  
Byleth’s blue eyes widened slightly at the revelation. But no later than that, her expression shifted and softened, tender and kind.

  
“ _ Khalid _ ,” she repeated after him slowly and carefully.

  
And  _ stars _ , hearing his actual name rolling off her tongue was like hearing a prayer made for him by a divine being. How blessed she made him feel just now, how happy and absolutely in awe. She said his name so perfectly, each consonant and vowel so well strung together, it was as if she had been saying it her entire life.

  
“Yeah, that’s right,” he remarked, his voice coming out in a low husky whisper. He leaned forward closer towards her. “Can you say it again?”

  
“Khalid,” she repeated.

  
“Hmm,” he hummed, moving towards her once more, stopping when their noses almost touched. “Again.”

  
He felt a sharp inhale of breath from her as she looked back up at him, her eyes turning half-lidded. He was sure his was in the same state.

  
“Khalid,” she finally whispered with an exhale.

  
Claude brought up his free hand and placed it over her pink-tainted cheek.

  
“By...let me know if I’m moving too fast with this,” Claude muttered softly, the rapid drumming of his heart overpowering his every sense.

  
Byleth placed a hand over his. “I think...we both know deep down we’ve been waiting for each other for far too long,” she said to him, low and almost breathless.

  
Claude heeded her words with the affirmation he needed. He leaned down and closed the gap between them, pressing his lips against hers as his eyelids gradually shut close. The touch of her lips on his was so warm, soft and inviting. It sent jolts all over his body which eventually settled into a warm pool of heat in his core. The feeling of her lips was new and exciting, yet familiar at the same time. He felt her press harder against him, her mouth parting slightly. He took that as his cue, swiping his tongue over her bottom lip requesting its entrance. She granted his entrance with a gasp, the sensation of each other’s hot breaths and tongue eliciting moans of pleasure from both of them. Claude wrapped his arms around Byleth, pulling her closer to him, pressing her body against his until he couldn’t anymore. The cold autumn weather was now forgotten as the two were lost in the heat of their kiss.

  
Byleth was the first one to pull back, panting for breath, her lips pink and swollen slightly from their earlier exchange. Claude took in her appearance with delight, arms still cradling her back to ensure her close proximity to him.

  
“That was….” Claude muttered, trailing off as he couldn’t find the perfect word to describe the amalgamation of sensations he was feeling.

_  
Exciting. Hot. Passionate. Wonderful. _

_  
Home, _ he thought as flashes of Byleth from his dream played across his mind.

  
“Yeah…” Byleth said, giving him a smile that conveyed her comprehension of those exact feelings. They leaned in once more, lips seeking each other. Their kiss this time was more fleeting than the previous one, more innocent and simply a way for them to enjoy each other’s closeness and warmth, as the cool autumn breeze carried falling leaves of brown, orange and yellow dancing in the air around them.

  
\---

_'CauseI feel myself surrender_  
 _Each time I see your face_  
 _I am captured by your beauty_  
 _Your unassuming grace_

\- My Confession, Josh Groban  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something about the little details of Almyra: since we receive little information in terms of geographical information on the game's regions (to all of us fic writers' dismay) I am building it up from what I know of living in Middle East for majority of my life.


	3. Sometimes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claude and Byleth's relationship develops further. Some quirks are noticed. More secrets are confessed to each other. Still some happy days ahead of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter contains some mature scenes and it is my first attempt trying my brain at writing them even though it still turns out pretty vanilla.

A quirk of Byleth's that Claude soon noticed not long into their relationship was that she was a very private person, especially when it came to things that mattered a great deal to her. Their relationship apparently was included within that category.

  
On a Thursday night, the marketing and sales team (it was always the marketing and sales) had invited their usual group for after-work drinks at Red Canyon. Claude had asked Byleth if she wanted to come along, seeing as some of the group would be inviting their significant others as well.

  
"Sorry, I'll have to pass," Byleth smiled apologetically at him as they were cuddled together on a sofa in the empty upper floor of Little Fables, skimming through a poetry book. Claude marveled at how the space was always completely void of people whenever they both visited. Not that he was complaining; the complete privacy meant that they were able to indulge in other kinds of _activities_ apart from reading together or dining. Provided that Flayn did not suddenly come up and catch them in the middle of the act. (But no, they haven't done anything too outrageous in there. Nor were they planning to.)

  
"Is there a reason why?" Claude raised an eyebrow at her.

  
"It's not that I don't want to meet your friends…" Byleth began to explain, "I just don't want to have other people's opinions on our relationship yet, considering how much anticipation I have towards it all this time…"

  
"You're afraid of what my friends will think of you?" Claude asked. Was it a little early? They have been with each other for a little over three weeks. 

  
Byleth shook her head and rested herself against Claude's shoulder. "It's not me I'm worried about."

  
Claude frowned. "By, I am more than ready to tell the world that I'm seeing you. Besides, I think you will get along great with my friends."

  
"I just can't Claude, I'm sorry," he heard her sigh.

  
Claude pulled her closer to him, planting a kiss on the crown of her head. "Hey, it's fine. I'm not forcing you. We'll meet the others whenever you're ready."

  
He felt her nod in his arm. Shortly, Byleth pushed herself forward from his grip and turned back to face him once more, a playful glint in her eyes. He gave a glance at the staircase, appearing to be on the look-out of something briefly before speaking. "Anyway, do you still want to continue that book or do you want to do something else equally, if not, much more _entertaining_ which also involves this couch?"

  
Catching her hint, Claude immediately placed the book on his lap on top of the coffee table across from him and pulled Byleth to him with a wolfish grin, their earlier conversation immediately forgotten.

  
\---

  
That was last night, Claude reminisced as he took another gulp of the beer in his hand. He returned his attention back to Sylvain who was telling him and Hubert about the attractive new hire in the PR department. The three of them were discussing their next poker night plan before Sylvain decided to digress.

  
Unlike their last visit, this time the group was dispersed around the first floor of Red Canyon. No special events, just casual drinks. Remembering that he brought his car for the day, Claude opted for a single beer for the night. He generally wasn’t much of a drinker, preferring to keep his inhibition in check for important reasons.

  
“I bet I stopped paying attention to him way before you did,” Hubert whispered to Claude

  
“Well then, let’s cut the conversation short, shall we?” Claude said, noticing a certain short-haired blonde passing by them with Dorothea.

  
“Oh, hey Ingrid,” Claude called out. Ingrid paused in her tracks to turn to him. Claude grinned. “So you have to listen to this interesting story Sylvain was telling us about! Apparently there's this hot new hire in the PR department.”

  
Sylvain visibly blanched as Ingrid turned to him with a frown. Honestly, Ingrid had the patience of a saint for dealing with Sylvain for so long.

  
“Have a good rest of the night, Gautier,” Claude smirked at him before he and Hubert made their quick escape from a certain Galatea wrath.

  
“You are aware that he’s not going to leave you alone for that,” Hubert retorted.

  
Claude shrugged. “Well, that’s what poker nights are for.” 

  
\---

  
“Hey Claude, tell me the truth,” Hilda said to him as she, Lorenz, Caspar and himself made their way out of the pub, “you’re seeing someone now, aren’t you?” 

  
Claude turned to look back at her. “What brought the question on, Hil?”

  
“Oh, just that for the past weeks you’ve been going home early or on time when normally you would stay behind late. Also, I’ve seen you on your phone with the biggest goofy grin a lot recently.”

  
Claude chuckled at Hilda’s observations. “Careful my friend, you stare at me too much, poor Caspar there might think something is going on.”

  
Hilda rolled her eyes at Claude before reaching out and taking hold of Caspar’s hand. Just in case.

  
“Maybe I am seeing someone though,” Claude grinned. At his words, Hilda gasped in delight and smacked a hand against Lorenz’s back. “See! I told you!”

  
“Ouch,” Lorenz whined, “that was very unnecessary. And I never said he was not courting anyone.”

  
“Oh, what’s this about courting?” Claude heard Edelgard’s voice. She was coming out of the pub’s entrance with Dimitri and Sylvain.

_  
Wonderful, let’s get more people in on this. _

  
“Claude here has a new muse,” Hilda grinned, pointing a thumb at Claude.

  
“Oho, a new two-week missus?” Sylvain chuckled, arms folded behind his head.

  
“It’s not like that this time,” Claude grimaced.

  
“Why didn’t you invite her along tonight?’ Dimitri asked him.

  
Claude shrugged. “We’re just not ready to meet people yet.”

  
“Or you assume she won’t stay long enough again for us to know her,” Lorenz chimed in, causing Claude to throw a glare in his direction. 

  
“Like I said, it’s different this time.”

  
The group exchanged a few more words before parting ways. Claude watched all of them head to their respective directions home before turning on his heels to his car. He paused in his tracks, eyebrows furrowing slightly.

  
“Byleth? What are you doing here?”

  
Standing a few steps away from Red Canyon’s entrance was Byleth, hands buried in the pockets of her black jacket. How long had she been there? He took several quick strides to her side. She gave him a smile but Claude noticed that the smile didn’t reach her eyes.

  
“I thought I’d pass by here from Flayn’s and hopefully catch you coming home,” she replied quietly.

  
“You didn’t have to, I was planning on giving you a call when I got back home,” Claude replied. He offered an outstretched hand towards her. “Let’s head to my car, it’s cold out here.”

  
She stared at the rough hand offered to her for a few seconds before taking out her own from her pocket and curling her fingers around his. He smiled and led her to his car.

  
“You friends…” she started to say once they were seated in his black coupe, “they all get along with each other?”

  
“Hm?” Claude hummed back at her, tuning up the dials to the heater in his car before he turned to her. “You saw them?”

  
“Yeah.”

  
“You could have said hi.”

  
“That would defeat the purpose of not wanting to be seen,” Byleth retorted.

  
“They don’t bite you know,” Claude said with an amused chuckle. “But to answer your question, yeah we all get along well. It’s a little hard to describe but there’s a natural pull between all of us. A few weeks ago Edelgard, that’s the woman with the long brown hair just now, told me she felt like we all knew each other long before now. Sometimes I think that could be possible.”

  
At Claude’s words, Byleth’s expression shifted into something akin to relief. “I’m glad…” she spoke. “I’m really glad.”

  
A side of Byleth that Claude had also noticed over time was that she would fall silent in some brief moments, in which she appeared to be lost in her own little world. They were subtle and short, so when Claude first began to take note he tried to think nothing of it. But then it happened, again and again. Certain words and certain moments would bring her into a distant trance of sadness, longing, or happiness that left Claude puzzled. He recently had plucked up the courage to pry but each time he asked, Claude would receive an answer that didn’t seem to address the issue fully.

  
“Why are you concerned about that?” he asked.

  
“I just want to make sure you’re among good hands,” Byleth answered. There it was again. Deflective. Claude figured she just needed time; they had only been seeing each other for a few weeks after all. And he was more than willing to wait for her.

  
“Something else on your mind?” Claude asked. Her eyes were casted downward with a blank expression on her face, a tell-tale of hers that she had more things to say but was unsure of how to approach.

  
She looked back up at him, the sides of her lips moved up slightly.

  
“Was it true...what your friends said? About the two weeks?”

  
Of course she had to hear _that_ conversation. Damn Sylvain.

  
Claude rubbed the side of his neck, uncertain of where to begin. But one thing for sure, he didn’t want to lie to her.

  
‘..Yeah it’s true,” he sighed. “My past relationships have not lasted that long.”

  
There was no response from Byleth but he could feel her gaze fixed on him.

  
“It’s not because I’m afraid to commit or that I like to play around,” he began to explain once more.

  
He paused.

  
There was no other way to explain but with the truth. The actual truth. Well, better now than never. “I told you when we first met that I’ve known of you somehow, right?

  
Byleth nodded at him.

  
“This may sound very far-fetched but I’m not making any of it up…” He clenched and unclenched his palms for a second. “For more than half my life, I’ve had these recurring dreams...of being in a certain lifetime. I don’t know when and where or why.” He turned to Byleth, her eyes gleaming bright in the darkness of the night. “Every time I had those dreams, there would always be someone with me...through the happy and sad moments. Always believing in and supporting me. She was first my teacher and we became friends and trusting partners. Eventually I...we fell in love with each other.”

  
He reached out and cupped a side of Byleth’s face, a thumb stroking her cheek softly.

  
“That person looked like you, talked like you, acted similar to you and felt like you. For years, I’ve met that person in my dreams and everytime I started a new relationship, I felt as if I was betraying her...that’s why I ended them as soon as they started. They all felt wrong until you showed up.” He threw her a nervous smile. “So, do you think I’m crazy now?”

  
Byleth leaned into his touch, one of her hands crept up and settled over his by her face. “I believe you.”

  
Claude chuckled at her. “Really? Just like that?”

  
Byleth moved his hand from face, placing it on her lap with her own hand around it. “Claude von Riegan, you’re a man of logic and a cynic to anything intangible. It’s not like you to make up something like that by will.”

  
“You read me so well.”

  
“Besides, I have my share of far-fetched experiences as well but I will share them with you one day. Not tonight,” Byleth added.

  
Claude nodded. Despite that, he felt a heavy weight in his chest suddenly lifted from him. He was thankful at how easy she had made it for him just now, without much prying. An immediate acceptance of his deepest secret that no one else in the world knew apart from her. He gave Byleth’s hand a gentle squeeze.

  
“Trust me when I say I have no intention of letting you go anytime soon.”

  
At his words, Byleth’s face turned serene and happy. Claude couldn’t help but marvel at how beautiful she looked, even in the darkness of the night. “I do.”

  
She leaned forwards towards him. “Hey _Khalid_ …”

  
“Yeah?”

  
“Kiss me.”

  
“With pleasure.” he whispered back to her, leaning forward and captured her lips with his.

  
\---

\---

  
It started with a very successful day at work for Claude. Thanks to his recent research and strategy, the president of a leading natural gas company along with several of its executive board members had given them a verbal agreement to lend their technologies and several experts as educators to the project, in exchange for a certain percentage of their production being imported to Fodlan. This development enabled the Leicester-Almyra project to move faster into completion. Everyone in the department had been congratulating him all day. He even solicited approvals from Judith and Lorenz, which he took as a win. 

  
There were invites for after-work celebrations but Claude really only wanted to celebrate with one particular person that night.

  
“Hello?”

“Hey By. You’re not doing anything tonight, right?”

“Not really, What have you got in mind Claude?”

“So I just had a big win today at work and I wanted to celebrate with you. What do you say?”

“Oh, congratulations! That sounds great but I don’t want…”

“Yes I know. No crowds. So I was thinking...do you want to come by my place instead?”

“...Your place huh?”

“Yeah. We can have some fancy take out, pop some champagne and maybe get a little cozy afterwards. Oh, don’t worry, we won’t do anything you’re not comfortable with. I just thought it might be a nice change from Fables or the outdoors, it’s a little cold outside now.”

  
Claude could only hear the sound of Byleth’s breath from the other line.

  
“...So what do you say?”

“...Okay, let’s do that.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. Looking forward to it.”

“Okay great! I’ll see you later, By.”

“See you later Claude.”

  
\---

  
“Welcome to my humble abode,” Claude grinned as he turned the lights to his apartment on. Byleth stepped into the space, taking in the unit’s appearance. She looked back at Claude, an eyebrow raised. “Humble?” she said with a bit of mirth, "the lift literally opened to your front door, exclusively. You practically fit the mold of a young, rich bachelor."

  
“A bachelor whose heart you have managed to conquer completely, my friend,” Claude threw a coy wink at Byleth, earning him a scoff and an eye roll.

  
Byleth trailed behind Claude, who led them to the living area of his apartment. She placed the bag of take-outs on the coffee table as Claude made his way to the kitchen to grab a bottle of champagne and glasses.

  
Claude’s apartment was a blend of gray wood and monochrome colors with small accents of golden and green from pillows and furniture. A viewing range stretched and covered most of the unit, granting the 30th floor apartment a breathtaking panoramic view of the heart of Garreg Mach.

  
“It’s actually not mine,” Claude said, walking back to the living room, two glasses in one hand and a bottle in the other. “This is owned under the von Riegan family’s name, so basically it's my grandfather’s. I was told to stay here instead of renting my own place since no one is occupying it. I don’t know if you know this, but the von Riegan family is among one of the longest-standing aristocratic families in Leicester.”

  
“Isn’t the current First Minister of Leicester a von Riegan?”

  
“Yeah,” Claude replied, sitting down on his grey sofa next to her, “he’s my uncle Godfrey. He has been wanting to do something for the country for the longest time other than just sitting back and living on old money. I respect his decision for that, I think he’s doing a good job so far.”

  
Byleth nodded. “Do you have plans to go along that path as well?” 

  
“Me? No, I don’t think so,” Claude shook his head, “There isn’t anything dire in the political scene right now that I want to change with my own two hands. Rather than political, I do have plans to jump into social and humanitarian causes eventually. I want to make changes in the middle of the scene rather than from a distance and far off from those I wanted to help.”

 _  
Plus, I’ve had enough of that life thanks _, Claude grimaced internally as he remembered his dreams where for years he found himself shouldering the burdens of leading Leicester and Almyra, the politics, the multiple attempts on his life, the constant guilt he carried within him for bringing the Byleth in his dreams into his complicated life plan. He just wanted to live his reality as straight-forwardly as possible.

  
“I think that suits you, you’ll do well in it,” Byleth smiled at him, her eyes brimming with all the assured confidence she has for Claude.

  
“Heh, thanks,” Claude scratched a cheek with his finger. “Anyway, back to the apartment. If I had a choice, I’d have preferred a place with a bit more warmth than this, probably smaller and homey. I definitely wouldn’t be able to afford to rent this kind of place on my own without breaking the bank on my savings.”

  
Byleth turned to the outstretched glass panes that walled the apartment. “The view is amazing though,” she commented, eyes fixed to the brilliant night skyline of Garreg Mach.

  
“Yeah, I’m not mad about that,” Claude nodded. “Anyway, let’s eat? I’m kind of hungry actually.”

  
As they ate, Claude began telling Byleth about his day, reliving the late nights he had spent for the past days that ended up paying off splendidly. He found himself spurred on in his endeavors by Byleth’s encouraging reactions. And rightfully so, for she had become his constant driving force for years, and even more so in the past few weeks after they'd met.

  
“I didn’t do anything,” Byleth gave him a puzzled look when he told her.

  
Claude’s lips quirked up at her. “You gave me the courage to pursue this project the way I wanted to, what I thought would have been best.”

  
“How so?” Byleth asked, tilting her head slightly.

  
“Your words...a while ago, how you said people here weren’t as informed of the outside world as one would think. It stuck by me for a bit.” He paused, meeting his verdant eyes with Byleth’s blue ones. “But then you asked me what my real name was and as simple of a gesture that was, it made me realize I want to encourage more people to be like you, to be open and curious about those different from them. This win was part of a larger scheme in making that a reality.”

  
“And the financial obstacle?” Byleth asked.

  
“I have a plan for that...I just need time to prepare myself for the potential repercussions before putting it in action,” Claude answered. He could feel his nerves pulsing rapidly at the thought. But he'd made up his mind already.

  
As if sensing his unease, Byleth reached out and placed her free hand on top of his. “Well then, here’s to a world with less metaphorical borders between us soon.” She raised her glass to him. Claude’s expression softened, eased by her response. He would be willing to tell her anything, of course, but he was glad she chose not to pry at the moment. He held up his glass to her before they both took sips of their drinks.

  
He heard Byleth gasp, her gaze fixed to the windows. She placed her glass down on the table and her face lit up. “It’s snowing,” she muttered.

  
Claude turned to the windows. Sure enough, flurries of white began to descend from the dark sky in slow and gentle motions. 

  
Byleth stood up and walked over, pausing by the glass panes. Claude placed his own glass on the table and trailed after her, stopping behind her to wrap his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him. They stood together in silence, watching the snowflakes, taking in the serenity which the first snowfall carried with it.

  
“Snow is one of my favorite things,” Byleth spoke softly.

  
“Yeah?” Claude murmured against the back of her head. “Why is that?”

  
He felt her hands landing on top of his, giving them a squeeze.

  
“One of my fondest memories happened during snowfall,” Byleth explained. She paused before continuing. “Claude...two weeks ago you said you had dreams of me right?”

  
“Yeah...I did.”

  
“Well...I had dreams too,” Byleth added, almost reluctantly.

  
Claude felt himself inhale sharply. He felt her lean further into him and he tightened his arms around her, feeling her warmth seep into him, the scent of lilies in her hair giving some comfort to his rapidly beating heart.

  
“For years, I dreamt of a man with beautiful green eyes, dark hair and cheeky, confident smiles.” He heard her pause with a chuckle. “Those smiles never reached his eyes at first. He was very wary of others but he eventually learned to trust and let other people in. He was strong, smart, kind and had the most selfless dream for the world even though people were not kind to him in his past. I admired him. I trusted him. And eventually, I grew to care about him deeply.”

  
She shifted in his grasp, turning herself around so she was looking up at him. Claude released a breath he didn’t realize he was holding, feeling himself drown in the tenderness of her blue eyes.

  
“He told me he loved me before leaving me on my own,” Byleth smiled. “But he returned to me, on a cold snowy month. And we have been together ever since.”

  
\---

_  
Byleth had managed to wash off most of the grime that was left on her from the earlier battle. She put the towel she was drying her hair with on the vanity of her private chambers, taking in her own reflection of herself in her casual black shorts and shirt. She grimaced at the new scars left on her body from the fight. It was one of the hardest battles she had ever gone through. She wasn’t even sure if she would make it through without the help of Almyran forces, led by Claude himself. _

_  
Claude. He was here at last. Swooping in on his white wyvern so gallantly, taking charge of the battle against the Agarthans so naturally. Months of exchanging letters and staring off at the distant night sky, wondering if the other was faring well. If they were thinking of one another as much in their moments of respite. _

_  
Byleth heard a knock from her door. She turned around and was met with Claude leaning against her doorway, arms folded across his chest. He was still in his battle regalia, black and gold and absolutely dashing. _

_  
“May I come in?” _

_  
“Yes, go ahead,” Byleth replied. She stood up from her stool and walked towards him. He pushed himself away from the door, crossing its threshold and stepping towards Byleth’s direction. They stopped with a few steps in-between them. Byleth eyes scanned over Claude standing in front of her. There was weariness in his eyes, the burden of Almyra’s affairs etched on his face. His hair was slightly longer; instead of the single lone strand falling over his face, there were several strands of stray hair falling over his forehead. His face was still sharp as ever and he was looking at her back with a look that was a mixture of affection and something else Byleth was unable to pin-point. _

_  
“How are your wounds?” Claude asked, breaking their silence. _

_  
“Oh, they’re healing fine,” Byleth smiled at him. “What about you?” _

_  
“Hardly a scratch on me,” he chuckled at her. They fell into a silence once more, eyes still locked on each other. Byleth was unsure of what to say or do. There were so many things she had thought of doing with him while they were apart. Now that Claude was in front of her, she wasn’t sure where to start. _

_  
Claude scratched the back of his head before speaking. _

_  
“So...uh...three things,” Claude held up three fingers to her. _

_  
“One, you are looking at the new King of Almyra right now.” He pointed a thumb at himself. _

_  
Byleth never had a doubt that he would succeed in his endeavours, but her eyes still widened in surprise at how quickly he had achieved his lifelong dream. _

_  
“That’s...wow…” Byleth muttered. “Congratulations, Your Majesty.” _

_  
“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Claude grinned at her. He took a step closer to her. _

_  
“Two...your hair is longer now,” he said. “It suits you...you look beautiful.” _

_  
A scarlet blush painted her face. “Oh...thank you.” _

_  
Claude chuckled at her reaction. He took another step forward until he was right in front of her. He grabbed both of her hands in his. _

_  
“Three,” he said in a low husky voice. “I missed you. So much.” _

_  
Trust Claude to make her heart jump out of her chest and make her feel light on her feet at the same time. She tilted her face up towards him, affection painted across her face. _

_  
“I missed you too Claude…” _

  
\---

  
“I know that day, I have dreamt of it,” Claude said, wide-eyed at the recollection of a scene he knew too well in his head. He remembered having his breath taken away by the sight of her in her room stripped off from her queen facade. Just Byleth. His Byleth.

  
He remembered vividly the intimate moment that they both first shared in that room. That they both shared together for the first time in that lifetime. Two bodies and souls lost in their long-repressed carnal desire, their shared passion overwhelming the cold of the falling snow outside.

 _  
Oh yes, that memory. _Claude felt heat suddenly growing inside him.

  
“For a frigid day, that evening was surely warm wasn’t it?” Byleth whispered, her eyes hooded and heavy. Inviting.

  
Claude found himself hypnotized by those blue irises. 

  
“Yes it was,” he said softly. He trailed his hands up along her body, stopping once they reached her face. He leaned down, pressing his lips against hers. Fleeting at first, but it didn’t take long for the kiss to transform into something much more heated, spurred on by a flame awoken by their shared memory of a passionate night together. Intangible as the memory may be, the desire that bubbled within them was very real. Their arms found each other, pulling the other closer, their bodies begging to be one. The sensation of each other’s fervent breath and warm tongue was dizzying, addictive; a drug neither wanted to recover from.

  
They both soon found themselves on Claude’s bed. Byleth was pinned under him, his left hand interlocked with hers above her head. His other hand traveled down her body, caressing, rubbing, squeezing any part of her he could feel with eyes shut as his tongue explored the moist crevices of her delectable mouth. He pulled away from her with a gasp, moving to trail butterfly kisses along her jaw, down the crook of her neck, nipping at the soft skin occasionally, eliciting sultry moans from Byleth and spurring on the fires of his arousal further.

  
He paused at her collarbone, pulling away once more before moving up and hovering his face over hers. He decided then that there was nothing more beautiful in this world than the sight of Byleth Eisner in his bed, hair in disarray, lips swollen and panting and her eyes hooded with desire for him.

  
“By...I won’t be able to stop after this if we continue,” Claude said.

  
“Khalid, _please_..” Byleth muttered, almost a whimper, and goodness the sound of his real name out of her lips in a tone filled with want was enough to break down whatever was left of his self-restraint, “I’ve wanted you for the longest time. ”

  
Any self-control Claude had left within him disappeared with her words. “Stars, By you don’t know how often I’ve dreamt of this moment,” he whispered before leaning down and planting a heated, wet kiss on her mouth, his hands tugging at the hem of her black shirt. He removed each article of her clothing with contained patience despite the desperation building in him, trailing kisses over each new exposed skin, his lips praying at the altar of her body. He felt her hands working at the buttons of his shirt and pants, occasionally brushing and feeling his hardening arousal, drawing out groans of pleasure from him. He saw the hungry look on her face once she managed to take him out of his clothes, running her hands all over his toned, chiseled body that he had managed to maintain.

  
She wasn’t the only one hungry, Claude was like a beast starved once he saw her in full nude. Her bare body was a sight to behold, milky white soft skin and soft curves. Claude’s mouth immediately went dry at the sight of her figure sprawled out on his bed for him. He wasted no time to explore her once more with his mouth, his tongue and his fingers, finding every spot which made her body arch up towards him and drawing out those sweet heady moans from her lips.

  
But nothing could compare to the first time he felt himself inside her, a heaven within a goddess’ body. She was so tight and warm around him, taking in all of him so perfectly almost as if she was a home made just for him. And maybe she was, Claude reckoned as he revelled in the sensation of being so intimately connected to her. It was more than just the manifestation of their physical act of love. It was also the overwhelming feeling of having himself so open and vulnerable for someone only to have that other person embrace everything he was with warm tenderness and affection.

  
Byleth writhed underneath him, meeting each of his thrusts with a pleasured moan and breathless gasps of his name. It was the most alluring sound, and he would make love to her over and over again just to hear her say his name that way. 

  
His thrusts slowly became more erratic as he felt his pleasure building up to a climax. Sensing this, Byleth brought a hand to herself, rubbing her clit with her finger and bringing herself closer to her edge.

  
“By..I’m going to…” Claude grunted as his pace quickened even more.

  
“Khalid..ah...inside me.” She met his reluctant eyes with affirmation. “It’s fine, I’m protected. Let yourself go, I want to feel all of you.”

  
She wrapped her legs tighter around his waist, pulling him deeper inside her. Claude lost himself with her words. After a few hard thrusts, he felt himself throb, releasing himself inside her in a blinding wave of pleasure. The sudden onset of warmth spilling inside her brought Byleth over the edge. Claude felt her walls spasm and clench around him as she arched her body up with a silent scream, knuckles white on his sheets.

  
Claude remained in her afterwards, panting, bodies slick with sweat as they exchanged a blissful, satiated look to each other.

_  
This woman would be the death of him and he would gladly die by her divine touch. _

  
He gave her a peck before slowly pulling himself out of her, causing Byleth to whine at the sudden emptiness within her. He plopped down next to her, wrapping an arm over her bare torso, pulling her close to him.

  
“That was better than all of my dreams,” he muttered in her ear.

  
Byleth chuckled at his statement, turning herself to her side to face him. “Another round later?”

  
He leaned his forehead against hers. “Oh, absolutely.”

  
\---

  
Later, as they both drifted off to sleep after another passion-driven activity, Claude secretly thanked whatever divine deity in his other ‘life’ for blessing him with Byleth’s presence. He turned to the woman who was already sleeping soundly next to him.

  
When was the last time he felt this happy and complete? Ever since he met her, his sleep had been dreamless, the longest he had gone without them. But he didn’t need them anyway, because his reality had been a dream ever since Byleth came into his life. A happy, beautiful dream.

  
He reached out and caressed her face, careful not to wake her up.

  
“Byleth I…” He paused. He felt the word he wanted to say right at the tip of his tongue, the word which encapsulated the depth of his affection towards her. But maybe now wasn’t the right time to profess it out loud to her for the first time. He wanted her to hear him.

  
“I care about you so much, my star,” he opted to say instead. He felt her stir and shifted closer to him. He smiled, closing his eyes and losing himself to slumber to the lull of her breaths.

  
\---

_  
My nights are illuminated _

_By the golden deer and the crescent moon_

_I often ruminate_

_Whether a fell star can reach them soon_

_Filling up the night sky together_

\---  
  
 _Sometimes I run_  
 _Sometimes I hide_  
 _Sometimes I'm scared of you_  
 _But all I really want is to hold you tight_  
 _Treat you right, be with you day and night_  
 _Baby, all I need is time_

_-Sometimes, Britney Spears_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I purposely listen to Britney to absorb her sexy energy and give me some confident boost to write this chapter? Yep. (But also I thought the song was fitting for this part of the story.)


	4. Thinking Out Loud

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just when Claude thought he had settled into a new life with Byleth, he had another one of his dreams. The first one he had since Byleth came into his life.
> 
> Then a whirlwind came and rattled the blissful life he knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was one of the root ideas on which this entire story was build upon. Allow me to hold your hand from here onwards until the end of the fic.

After their first night together, Claude found that his and Byleth’s dates have gradually shifted to his apartment. More often than not, they would find themselves in his place, with her staying the night afterwards. Granted, they _have_ found an activity that both of them enjoyed very much. But sex was not all that was on the itinerary. They would spend some nights cozied up in his living room couch with a movie. Other nights, Byleth would cook them dinner, or if it was a weekend, lunch, with Claude attempting to help in the background (and failing miserably). Some nights they would talk late into the night about their lives, about their aspirations and occasionally about their shared memories of a life they couldn’t recall ever living before.

  
( _“What was the latest one you had about?” Byleth asked._

_  
“Of us in the..Goddess Tower I think?” Claude answered, remembering the last time he had dreamed. It has been a while. _

_  
“Do you remember anybody else in them?” _

_  
“No,” Claude shook his head, taking her hand in his, “I only see you in my dreams.” _

_  
Byleth gave him a bashful beam and Claude couldn’t resist giving her a kiss from how adorable she looked.) _

  
And then some nights they would spend solely in his bed, lost in each other’s passionate embrace.

  
At one point, after Byleth had spent four consecutive nights at his place, Claude picked her up later that week and saw her with a small duffel bag.

  
“I spent so much time at your place that I think it’s best if I have some things there right?” she pointed out.

  
Claude chuckled at her argument but agreed nonetheless. When they arrived at his apartment, Claude didn’t waste any time before pulling her with him to his bedroom, a wolfish grin on his face.

  
“What do you think of just...staying here?” Claude said to Byleth as they were on his bed, propping himself up on his elbow to face her, bare and slick with sweat from an amorous activity with her.

  
Byleth turned on her side to Claude, blinking at him in mild surprise.

  
“You do spend most of your time here now, so let’s make it convenient for both of us,” Claude explained. “Besides...I like that you’re the first thing I wake up to and the last thing I see before I sleep.”

  
“How cheesy _Khalid_ ,” Byleth chortled. “I might drive you crazy you know.”

  
“It’s a risk I’m willing to take,” he grinned back at his lover. “So...what do you say?”

  
Byleth stared back silently at him for a few seconds, her eyes scanning his face for any signs of uncertainty.

  
“Okay…” she said finally. “I’ll stay.”

  
\---  
\---

  
Claude’s morning now consisted of him waking up to his favorite tea and breakfast before he left for work, a bleary-eyed Byleth accompanying him as he ate. He discovered that Byleth was (adorably) not a morning person, which he found rather ironic considering her previous job as a teacher. He had told her that she didn’t need to wake up and fix him breakfast each time.

  
“I want to see you before you leave,” she insisted with a pout and Claude was sure he melted right there and then.

  
He'd leave for work to her kisses; they were his favorite part of the routine. Sometimes they were quick pecks. Other times, they were sweet, slow and lingering. They almost convinced him to call for a day off just so he could spend a lazy day with her at home.

  
He'd come home to a warm voice greeting him, often with a kiss as well. But at times without as Byleth scrambled in his - their- kitchen to put their dinner together, which often made him laugh. But she would give him a peck once they were seated together to eat.

  
Claude had never thought of living a traditional domestic life before, but one quiet evening as he poured over his work in his living room, he glanced at the adjacent reading space of his apartment where Byleth sat, biting on a pen, a notepad on her lap (she had taken a job as Little Fable’s literary activities coordinator, she had told him.) He smiled to himself as he thought about how seamless it had been for their lives to merge together, how easy it was for them to find a routine that fits each other perfectly. At that moment, Claude couldn’t think of living any way other than the peaceful bliss he currently had with Byleth.

  
\---  
  
\---

  
Like spring, Byleth was warmth, joy, beauty and love. Her compassion was radiant like the glistening rays of sun. She cared a lot, of him, of Flayn, of any living things within her grasp. 

  
(How peaceful and at home she looked when stray cats or birds would come to flock her, and he noticed this a frequent occurrence when they spent their days outdoors.)

  
She regarded things with high sentimental value and close to her heart.

  
(Case in point: that time she would refuse to throw out the vase of lilies he had gotten for her until they were wilted beyond help. Or the fact that she refused to replace her worn down phone, one with a large, distinct crack across the screen - just because it was a gift from her father.)

  
Byleth was also calm and collected. Like a cool, autumn breeze, her methodical approach in handling problems with a composed rationale was refreshing and Claude found within himself many new insights just from talking to her. 

  
(But it was probably her fleeting smiles, subtle and in-between like autumn, that were his favorite.)

  
Then, there was the Byleth who was a mixture of passion and determination so relentless like mid-summer heat. Firm and steady in her opinions, and there was no deterring her once she set her mind on something.

  
(“Life is too short to second guess your actions,” she told him once with one of her cryptic smiles.)

  
(His favorite part of her summer was of course, her heat of passion and desire that she shared with him. Only him.)

  
But the most intriguing part of Byleth was her winter. She isolated herself, hibernated from the sight of others like honey bears would from the frosty snow. It was puzzling to say the least. It wasn’t that she was anti-social. Claude could sense the longing in her for the company of people. She reached out to him with arms open, connected to Flayn with ease and listened to his stories of his friends and family with dedicated interest, frequently asking questions about them. But each time he brought up the notion of meeting them, she would refuse time and time again. She had even asked him to maintain secrecy about her from his parents and friends when he wanted nothing more but to declare to them how important she was to him. He didn’t understand; he knew everyone would love her.

  
(They got into a fight about this once, one of the first ever angry exchanges they ever had. But Claude saw the pained expression on her face as they cooled off and Claude realized the issue was perhaps more complex than her simply not wanting to meet and she was not ready to tell him yet. So he decided to let the issue slide and wait.)

  
It had only been several months but Claude had been bestowed with a whole year’s worth of her seasons. Each so different and complex, Claude couldn’t quench his thirst for the knowledge of Byleth.

  
And he reckoned he was willing to spend a lifetime as her eternal scholar.

  
\---

\---

_  
Waves of soldiers in metal armors with helmets accentuated with crimson came crashing in towards his direction. Bracing himself, Claude gripped the hilt of the iron sword in his hands tighter until hints of white painted his knuckles. _

_  
Clang! Clang! _

_  
One. Two. Three soldiers down and more were still coming. Next to him, someone in black and royal blue was frantically warding off the seemingly endless stream of soldiers with their lance. _

_  
A loud roar suddenly permeated the golden evening sky. _

_  
“What is going on?” Claude muttered, looking up to the sky in confusion. _

_  
He heard the gust of wind and flaps of a pair of large wings. A shadow loomed above. Then, a humongous dragon-like creature landed in front of the barricade walls not far behind him. The impact from its descent sent tremors throughout the ground around him, so much so that Claude himself staggered to keep balanced. _

_  
What is that? He thought to himself. _

_  
The creature arched its neck back, a beam of light formed at its mouth. It then shifted down and directed a blast of flames from its mouth the soldier below its feet, around it and those far off. The blast spanned as far as the housings around them, destroying several houses in its path. _

_  
“Shit, it’s going to destroy Garreg Mach,” Claude cursed under his breath. He ran to the dragon’s direction, and his head began racking through several scenarios on how he could help salvage the situation. _

_  
The ground rumbled once more and several four legged beasts barrelled towards the dragon, pinning it down underneath their collective weight. _

_  
“Damn, that’s beyond my paygrade,” Claude chuckled nervously at the sight. A shot of orange flame flew across the field, pushing off the monsters from the dragon. It was the extension of a sword he knew too well. _

_  
“Teach!” _

_  
Claude saw Byleth run towards the dragon’s direction. Without second thought, he sped up to her, hoping he would be in time to provide aid. _

_  
Please be okay. Please be okay. _

_Please don’t disappear again._

_  
Stray rubbles suddenly flew his way. He dodged them as fast as he could, the only thing in his mind was to get to Byleth’s side on time. Once he was cleared of them, he ran once more to her direction. _

_  
He stopped in his tracks. His eyes widened and he felt his heart dropping from his chest as he saw a ball of light sent towards Byleth’s,direction pushing her towards the edge of the cliff. _

_  
“No, Teach!” Claude yelled running to the cliff as if his life depended on it. And maybe it did. Byleth managed to ward off the ball before she fell but the ground beneath her began to crack and collapse, taking her down with it. _

_  
Everything was playing in slow motion in front of him. Claude watched his greatest nightmare come true as he saw Byleth disappear into the seemingly bottomless cliff. He heard her scream and he ran out and reached out to her desperately, despite knowing deep inside that the effort was futile. _

_  
No. No _

  
\---

  
“No!” Claude yelled as he woke up with a start, trails of sweat falling off his forehead. He looked around and found himself in his bedroom. No soldiers. No dragons. Just his normal, modern day Fodlan bedroom.

_  
A dream _, he thought to himself, bringing a hand to his face. The first of one of those in a while. He honestly had not had one of those dreams ever since he met Byleth.

  
“Ugh, why does it have to be a nightmare out of all things?” he groaned. He looked over to the spot next to him on his bed, finding it empty.

  
“Hey, By!” he called out to the room. No response. He stood up and walked out of his bedroom, releasing a sigh of relief once he immediately spotted Byleth looking outside through the glass panels of his living area, clad in a pair of shorts and one of his button-up shirts. He smiled at the sight, treading quietly towards her. He paused, however, once he got a better look at her face.

_  
There it is again _, he thought to himself with a frown. Byleth had one of those distant expressions on again, somberness painted in her eyes. It’s an expression that always seemed to take her somewhere beyond his reach. And he didn’t like it one bit.

  
“Hey,” he called out to her softly. She jumped up slightly in surprise before turning to him.

  
“Oh, you’re awake,” she spoke with a faltering smile.

  
“What’s wrong?” Claude asked, moving closer towards her.

  
Byleth shook her head. “Nothing’s wrong. Really,” she said. She averted her gaze from him. He noticed her biting her lower lips slightly. She wanted to say something else.

  
“You know you can tell me anything, right?” he said, reaching out for one of her hands.

  
She looked up at him and nodded. “I know.” She paused before speaking once more. “Hey Claude, we’ve been together for a couple of months right?”

  
“Yeah,” he nodded. “But we both have known of each other for far longer than that,” he chuckled.

  
Byleth gave a small laugh at his words. She lowered her gaze from him and he felt her tightening her grip around his hand.

  
“Well...I hope it’s not too presumptuous of me to say this but..” she shifted her gaze back up, her eyes meeting his. The sadness and uncertainty that were hidden behind those blue irises moments ago were gone. The only thing Claude could see in them was unspoken tenderness, a look which never failed to make his heart do somersaults in his chest.

  
“I love you,” she said, gentle yet unwavering.

  
Claude’s eyes widened and he felt his breath catch in his throat.

  
“You don’t have to say it back to me if you are not there,” Byleth continued, “I just want to let you know how much you mean to me and -- mmph!”

  
Claude cut her off with a kiss, pulling her close to him in a tight embrace. It didn’t take long for her to melt into the kiss, leaning up and pressing herself closer to him, relishing the warmth and tenderness of each other’s lips.

  
Claude pulled back from the kiss and pressed his forehead against hers, smiling widely.

  
“I think I’ve fallen for you ever since the moment I saw you,” Claude whispered softly to her, his eyes radiating the depth of his feelings. “..I love you Byleth Eisner. With everything I am.”

  
Byleth’s face brightened at his words. “I love you Claude..no. Khalid von Riegan.”

  
Their lips found each other once more as they held onto one another against the early year snowfall outside the window.

  
\---

  
That night, Byleth whispered words of love to him like a prayer, moaned his name out in desperate pleas, clung to him tighter than Claude had ever remembered as they made love in the darkness of his room. She loved him as if it would be their last time, giving him all of her uninhibited passion. But it wasn’t as if it was one sided, for Claude himself had given his all in showing Byleth how much she means to him, pleasuring her and worshipping her body and soul like the goddess she was to him.

  
“I love you By,” he whispered to her once more as they drifted off to sleep together, Byleth snuggled in his arms.

  
“I love you Khalid, so much,” he heard her murmur back. And then, much more quietly. “I hope you will always know that, whether I’m here or not.”

  
Claude cracked an eye open at her words. He looked down but saw that she was already succumbing to slumber, her breathing evening out.

  
“Of course I will,” Claude found himself replying regardless as he closed his eyes once more. “Our hearts will always be connected.”

  
\---

\---

  
Claude woke up to deafening silence. The usual clanking of utensils wasn't there. Neither was the smell of food cooking. He was alone in his bed. 

  
There was an unsettling sense of emptiness.

  
He walked over to his bathroom, finding it unlocked and lacking another life presence. The only hints of another person in the apartment were the pink towel and the white toothbrush placed next to his. He quickly washed up and dressed himself for the day. He walked out of his bedroom, only to be greeted once more with utter silence.

  
“By…” he called out to the quiet air. No response. He headed to his kitchen when he spotted a lone piece of paper on his kitchen island. He walked over and picked it up. Scribbled on it with Byleth’s distinct handwriting was an address of a place in Remire. Underneath it was written:

_  
“Ask them about the journals I kept under my bed.” _

  
“What the hell?” Claude frowned. He took out his phone from his pocket, scrolling over to Byleth’s phone number and dialled.

_  
The number you are calling is currently unavailable _

  
Okay. This was really strange.

  
After the third failed attempt at calling Byleth, Claude opted to text message.

**  
Claude** : By...where did you go so early in the morning?

**Claude** : I saw your note in the kitchen, what is this about?

**Claude** : Please call me as soon as you can

  
He took one last glance at his phone, hoping for a reply, before placing the device back in his pocket, gnawing worry growing within him.

_  
Where are you, Byleth? _

  
\---

  
Claude was horribly distracted the entire time at work although if he were to be frank, he couldn’t care less about his tasks at this moment. 

  
Byleth hadn’t texted him back, hadn’t called him back. He tried calling her whenever he could - after meetings, once every hour, only to find the effort futile. It wasn’t like her at all to do this. She was never the type to leave him hanging. Even if they were in the middle of an argument, she would let him know if she would be out of the house and she never wanted to make him worry endlessly.

  
After work, Claude immediately headed off to Little Fables, searching for the only person in Garreg Mach he could think of who would know where Byleth was. Or hopefully, she might just be there herself.

  
“Flayn!” Claude exclaimed as he burst through the cafe’s front door. Flayn looked up at him from behind the counter with a slight startle from the sudden outburst.

  
“Oh, Claude! Good evening,” she greeted.

  
“Have you seen Byleth today?”

  
She furrowed her eyebrows at him. “I’m afraid I haven’t seen her all day today, Claude.”

  
“She didn’t come to work?”

  
“Oh...um no she didn’t,” Flayn replied, her eyes evading his as she answered. “Did something happen?”

  
“She wasn’t at home since morning and I couldn’t reach her at all. She only left me this note.” He took out the piece of paper from his jacket's pocket.

  
“Let me see that…” Flayn said, reaching out for the piece of paper offered to her. Her frown deepened as she scanned the contents of the paper. “She left you this?” Flayn asked, looking back up at him.

  
“That’s her handwriting,” Claude replied.

  
Flayn handed the paper back to Claude. “Then I suggest you go here, Claude.”

  
Claude took the object back from Flayn. He then noticed that she was staring at him with that sorrowful look he often recognized.

  
“You've known something all along haven’t you?” Claude asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

  
“It’s best that you head to Remire to find out,” Flayn replied. “And Claude...I suggest you hurry.”

  
\---   
  
\---

Claude immediately decided to take two days off to the surprise of his colleagues and friends in the office. He expected that. After all, he had built a reputation of being a workaholic himself over the years he had been working at Garreg Mach. It was unlikely for him to take any days off, much less ones within a period so close to a looming deadline. But he had to get to the bottom of this. He needed to know where Byleth was. And he needed to know that she was safe.

  
“Is it some sort of family emergency?” Lorenz asked him with concern as he watched Claude pack away his laptop and several documents into his briefcase.

  
“Something like that,” Claude replied.

  
“I hope everything will be alright Claude. It’s rare to see you so distraught like the past two days,” Hilda said next to Lorenz.

  
“Thanks Hil, I hope so too.” He placed his briefcase on his table and looked at the two people across from him in his office. “I’ll only be gone for two days but it’s a busy time and people will be looking for me, so thank you for agreeing to fill my shoes in such short notice. Feel free to reach me anytime when you have any questions.”

  
“Oh please, do not worry about that,” he heard a woman’s voice from his door. The three of them turned to see Edelgard and Dimitri standing in his doorway.

  
“Hey, what are you guys doing here?” Claude asked. 

  
“We heard you were taking an emergency leave for the next two days and we wanted to wish you well,” Dimitri answered earnestly, “it is a difficult time to have such a thing happen, especially as the head of the projects.”

  
“As fellow leads, nothing is worse right now than having your focus split,” Edelgard nodded at him. “So go and handle your personal emergency first. Let Lorenz and Hilda come to us should they have any issues that are beyond their paygrade.”

  
Had Claude allowed himself to be more sentimental in front of them, he would have let out a tearful choke from Dimitri and Edelgard’s gestures.

_  
What did he ever do to deserve such colleagues and friends? _

  
“Thank you guys,” Claude smiled at them with a nod, “I appreciate that a lot.”

  
\---

\---

It took Claude an hour and a half's worth of driving to reach his destination in Remire. The address Byleth left him led to a middle-class suburban area. He finally found the house with the number ‘3’ next to its front door. A wreath decorated with white lilies hung on the wooden door.

_  
Byleth’s favorite flower _, Claude thought to himself and he could feel a sting within his chest. There was still no news from her either today neither was he able to reach her.

  
It was around seven in the evening when he arrived. He could see the lights in the house still turned on and smoke drifting out of the chimney. It was a modestly-sized two storey structure with a slanted roof. Claude took a deep breath before getting out of his car and stepped through the path leading to the front door. As he got closer to the house, he could see signs of wear on its paint-jobs and several damages on the roof. Byleth did mention that her family has been using most of their money to pay for her mother’s heart treatment. 

  
He stopped by the door. Another deep breath. He reached out and rang the doorbell. A few seconds later, he heard heavy footsteps walking towards the door.

  
The door opened to a man of slenderly-muscular built with short blue hair of a shade identical to Byleth’s. Their eyes are almost the same save for the fact that his carry a much sterner demeanor than hers along with hints of weariness. 

  
Elias. Claude recognized him from one of the pictures Byleth showed him of her family.

  
“Can I help you?” Byleth’s twin asked, his voice deep and steady.

  
“Hi, I’m Claude von Riegan. I’m looking for Byleth Eisner. Is she around?”

  
Elias furrowed his eyebrows at Claude and he suddenly felt much more nervous than before. “You’re looking for Byleth?”

  
“Yes,” Claude nodded. “Look, you can’t tell but I’m really worried right now, borderline panicking. I couldn’t reach her for the past two days and I just want to know if she’s okay.”

  
“You’ve...talked to her?” the blue-haired man asked him in confusion.

  
Okay, Claude found the direction of his concerns extremely strange and worrying. Why did the fact that he talked to his sister catch his attention more than the possibility of her going missing? Was he not concerned about her at all?

  
“Yes, everyday for the past five months and a half. Can I please see her if she’s here?” Claude replied, getting impatient.

  
“El, who is it?” Claude heard a gruff voice asked from inside the house. Walking towards them was a towering, muscular man with an army-cut blond hair. Next to him, a frail-looking woman with long, wavy green hair. Both of them had the same weariness on their eyes like Elias.

  
Jeralt and Sitri Eisner.

  
“Evening sir, ma’m,” Claude nodded quickly at them, “I’m Claude von Riegan and I’m looking for Byleth. Please tell me she is around somewhere and that she’s okay.”

  
Sitri blinked at him in surprise. “You’re looking for Byleth?”

  
“He says he’s been talking with By for the past five months,” Elias filled them in.

  
“Talking how? Virtually?” Jeralt asked with a distinct puzzled expression.

  
“No, in person,” Claude answered. “We met in Garreg Mach almost half a year ago and have been in contact ever since. But I haven’t been able to reach her for the past two days. The last thing she left me was a piece of paper leading me to this house. Please let me know that she’s here,” he continued, sounding more frantic as the seconds passed by.

  
Jeralt, Sitri and Elias stared at each other in silent confusion.

  
It was Sitri who ended up walking towards him at last, stopping right in front of him and looking at him with green eyes and a face that painfully reminded him of Byleth.

  
“It’s Claude right?” Sitri asked, her voice soft and quiet.

  
Claude nodded. He then noticed Sitri's expression shift from gentleness to sorrow. The same melancholic expression he had seen on Flayn and Byleth multiple times. A face that hid an immense secret. He swallowed the lump forming in his throat.

  
“Claude dear…” Sitri began to say, “...Byleth has been in a coma for the past six months.”

  
He felt his heart stop. His entire world shattered.

  
“...What?”  
  
\---  
  
 _And I'm thinking about how_

_People fall in love in mysterious ways  
_

_And maybe it's all part of a plan_

_\--Thinking Out Loud, Ed Sheeran_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. Yeah. I'm a little nervous about posting this chapter but I'm just going to pull through and do it because I already have the entire story plotted out. Was that a trip? Because it was a trip for me to write up to this point.
> 
> I initially wanted to write this fic as a mini ficlet of sort to be posted on Halloween. I wanted to try my hands in writing something with a little touch of thriller/mystery as opposed to my normal romanticism but as I started writing the story just builds up..and builds up...and now I am well past October and the story is still trying to finish itself.
> 
> I was mainly inspired by the movie 'The Sixth Sense' (1999) as to the way I decided to structure the story build up until now. Of course, this has a different feel to it but the first time I watched the movie, I was so mindblown by the reveal at the end (and the fact that the hints were already hidden in plain sight) and I wanted to emulate something like that in here. Don't think I was successful but haha I tried :')
> 
> Anyway, I want to thank all of you who have let me know how much you like the story so far. They mean a lot to me! And I hope you will still be with the story even after this turn of events because Claude needs your support more than ever from this point on.


	5. The Scientist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claude discovered more of Byleth and the Eisners' past.

“...What?” Claude stammered at Sitri’s words. He clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white. He furrowed his eyebrows at her. “Six months…? Is this some kind of a joke?!”

  
He had never been more confused than he was at that moment.

  
“Brat! Why would we joke about our girl like that?!” Jeralt lashed out sharply at Claude’s accusation. His eyes were ladened with exhaustion, framed with eyebags and painted with streaks of red. Jeralt took several heavy strides towards Claude but Sitri stopped him in his tracks, whispering calming words to her husband.

  
“Are you sure you’re talking about the same Byleth as us?” Elias asked Claude in a composed and calculating manner that was eerily similar to how Byleth would face problems and conflicts.

  
“Yes, I’m sure! She has shoulder-length blue hair and blue eyes. She was a teacher in Remire.” Claude paused, meeting everyone’s dubious gazes directed at him. “She told me about all of you... you’re Elias, Sitri and Jeralt.” He nodded his head at Elias. “You’re in the military just like your old man and your mother has a heart condition.”

  
At that, Elias moved from his spot by the door to the threshold of the doorway, standing between Claude and his parents as if barricading them from Claude’s presence.

  
“That doesn’t mean anything, you know how easy it is for scammers to get information like that online nowadays,” Elias sneered and Claude noticed the disdain and caution in the other man’s eyes. Claude remained tall and steady, facing Elias with all the conviction he could muster.

  
“She had those dreams of another life and a man that she saw in them over and over again,” he said. Elias’ eyes widened slightly at his words. Claude continued. “She told me to ask you about the journals she keeps under her bed.” 

  
There was a sharp intake of breath from Elias. “Did she really say that?”

  
“Here,” Claude took out the piece of paper in his coat pocket, “this was the last thing she left me two days ago.”

  
Elias took the piece of paper from Claude and scanned its contents. Claude noticed his hand trembling slightly and the color draining from his face as he read.

  
“Shit, “ he heard Elias murmur under his breath, “dammit, this can’t be happening.”

  
“El,” Sitri called out to him softly, “can we see that as well?”

  
He looked at the paper in his hand with brief hesitation before turning around and passing it to Sitri. Claude saw them audibly gasp once they took a look at the paper.

  
“This is her handwriting…” Sitri pointed out shakily. She turned to Jeralt. “Honey, this is her handwriting! And this information is something that only the three of us know!”

  
Jeralt didn’t say anything, the large-built man only gaped in stunned silence at the paper his wife was holding.

  
“I knew she was still here! That she will wake up again eventually...I...ugh- “ Sitri heaved abruptly and brought a hand over to her chest. Her sudden action prompted Jeralt and Elias to run to her side, worried expressions on their faces.

  
“Ma, calm down, breathe slowly,” Elias spoke to her in a soothing tone but his face betrayed the calmness of his voice. Claude noticed him taking Byleth’s note away from Sitri’s hand in the commotion.

  
“Let’s lie down and take your medicine, that’s enough stress for you tonight,” Jeralt told her. He turned to Elias. “El, show him in the house. I still want to ask him more questions later.”

  
Elias nodded at Jeralt’s order. Claude watched silently as Jeralt and Sitri disappeared into the house up into their rooms.

  
“Is she going to be alright?” Claude asked with a hint of concern.

  
“Hopefully,” Elias sighed, rubbing his temple as he turned around to face Claude once more, “her heartbeat becomes irregular when she gets too stressed and she needs to take medications to help regulate it. We've been trying to keep things calm for her right now, considering she just had a pretty severe attack two days ago.”

  
Claude frowned. “What happened two days ago?” 

  
Elias met his eyes and Claude could see the tension and exhaustion in them. “We almost lost Byleth,” he said, his tone grave and heavy.

  
Claude inhaled sharply, his body turning stiff and rigid. He felt chills running down his spine. Two days ago was the day Byleth disappeared from him. He felt his blood run cold. “...So it’s really true?” he managed to let out.

  
Elias scoffed. “Like dad said, why would we lie about that?”

  
Claude exhaled a breath he didn’t realize he was holding.

  
“:....How did it happen?” he asked.

  
“Car accident,” Elias replied flatly but Claude did not miss the faint shakiness in his voice. “She was on her way back to Remire from Garreg Mach.”

  
Claude cursed under his breath. He felt his head spin. What was happening? If everything that the Eisners have said was true, and it seemed that they were, then who was the one who had spent the past five months and a half with him? Who was the one who had given him the happiest moments of his life? Was everything real or a mere fragment of his imagination? 

  
Claude wasn’t sure what to believe right now. All he wanted was to see Byleth and hold her in his arms again.

  
“Hey, can I ask you something first?” Elias said, bringing Claude back from his thoughts.

  
“Sure,” Claude nodded weakly at him.

  
“Do you...do you happen to have those dreams like my sister did?”

  
Claude stifled a breath. Apart from Byleth (and his parents to an extent), no one else knew of his recurring dreams. No one would believe him even if he had said anything. It really caught him off guard to be asked about his longest, best-kept secret, especially by someone he just met.

  
“Yeah...I do,” Claude replied slowly. “For more than a decade I’ve had dreams of a certain lifetime, and in it Byleth would always be with me.”

  
“Shit, a decade huh,” Elias muttered, “I’m sorry you both had to finally meet each other in such circumstance.”

  
Claude didn’t say anything in reply. Rather, he wasn’t sure what to say as he was still uncertain of where and what to put his faith in.

  
Thankfully, Elias didn’t add any other comments as he ushered Claude inside the house.

  
“Oh yeah, Claude, I’m guessing you haven’t had anything since you left Garreg Mach. You want anything to eat or drink? We don’t have much to offer though.”

  
Claude shook his head at the other man’s offer. “Thanks, but food is the least of my concerns right now.”

  
Elias nodded at him. “Well, in that case, let’s talk somewhere else.”

  
Elias motioned for Claude to follow him. He was led up the staircase. It creaked rhythmically with each of their footsteps.

  
“I thought you looked familiar when I first saw you, I realize why now,” Elias spoke to Claude.

  
He blinked. “I don’t think we’ve ever met before.”

  
“No, we haven’t,” Elias replied, “but Byleth had told me stories of a dark-haired, green-eyed man who did not look entirely Fodlanese since we were eight. I could almost picture how he looked and I imagined he would look exactly like you.” He turned his head back and gave a sideway glance at Claude. “Let me guess, part Almyran?”

  
“Guilty,” Claude chuckled.

  
They arrived at a door with a wooden ‘B’ hung on its center, surrounded by a lily wreath around it. Elias paused at the handle for a few seconds before he pushed the door open and turned the light switch on.

  
“This is her room.”

  
The first thing Claude noticed when he entered the room was the slight musty smell that permeated the air and the dust that had gathered by the window-sills and the bookcase.

  
The room itself was simple and organized. There was a queen-sized bed in the center and a wooden wardrobe and a small vanity corner. Against the wall by the window was a study desk with a small bookcase next to it. As Claude walked over to the desk, the floorboards creaked under his steps.

  
On the dust-covered table was a stationary holder, a small pot of plastic yellow flower and another family picture of the Eisners. There was a stack of books propped up against the wall blanketed by a thin layer of dust. Among them were several copies of a thin black book he knew all too well. He reached out for a copy, brushing off its cover and sent dust bunnies flying around him.

  
" _The Crescent Moon and The Fell Star_.” He had completely forgotten about the book throughout his time with Byleth. Granted, he was invested in it mainly because it gave him a sense of tangible connection to her before he had met her.

  
Come to think of it, where did that book go? He couldn’t recall the last time he saw it in his apartment.

  
“By wrote that,” Elias said, plopping down on the edge of Byleth’s bed.

  
Claude turned to Elias in mild surprise. A part of him had guessed that that was the case for a while, but it still made his heart skip a beat to hear its confirmation.

  
“I bought a copy a while ago,” said Claude, smiling at the book fondly.

  
“I was hoping you would,” Elias replied to him, “it sold all right, a lot of people easily resonate with love and yearning.” He paused for a second before continuing once more. “But she wrote that mainly with hope it would reach the man living in her dreams somehow.”

  
“It did,” Claude chuckled, “but why the pseudonym? Where did ‘Sothis’ came from?”

  
Elias shrugged. “A part of her was a little afraid of actually meeting you in reality. Something along the line of possibly shattering a life-long dream expectation.”

  
Claude understood that. He had initially been the same when he first met Byleth. He was afraid that the images he had of Byleth from his dreams would give him a distorted perception and expectations over the real Byleth. But that concern soon dissipated because Byleth, he soon discovered, was much more wonderful and real than all of his years of dreams combined.

  
“As for Sothis…” Elias shifted and crouched down by the bed, reaching for something underneath it. He pulled out a brown box and brought it over to the desk. “You might find the answer here. Byleth had been recording her dreams since we were fifteen.”

  
Claude reached in the box and pulled out one of the leather-covered journals. He skimmed through the pages quickly, finding himself in awe at how each page was fully covered in her handwriting.

  
“You know, you’re pretty composed considering what we’ve told you so far,” Elias noted as he watched Claude carefully.

  
Claude let out a sigh as he placed the journal in his hand back in the box. He turned to Elias wearily. “Honestly, I still can’t wrap my head around it. You are all telling me that the woman I've spent the last five months and a half falling in love with was not really there the entire time? Do you know how crazy that sounds?”

  
It was only when he finished talking that Claude realized the unintentional harshness of his tone. Or the fact that he had just revealed the extent of his relationship with Byleth to her twin brother.

  
Elias merely quirked an eyebrow at Claude’s outburst. “Love, huh?”

  
“Nevermind that, sorry I snapped at you, it’s all a lot to take in,” Claude huffed. “And while we’re making observations, I have to say you are quick to believe me. I thought I'd have to procure more evidence to convince you that I was telling the truth.”

  
“Byleth is a pretty secretive person when it comes to her dreams. The only person who knew about them and these journals were our parents and myself. So for you, a stranger I know Byleth had never met before her accident, to come and speak of them… it carries a certain weight.” Elias paused for a few seconds, averting his gaze from Claude’s. “Besides...we’re not exactly a normal family so I’m no stranger to things that are beyond the realm of logic.”

  
Claude frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

  
“Well…” Elias said, shifting over to sit back on Byleth’s bed once more. He nodded his head towards the study chair by the desk. “You might want to sit down for this.”

  
\---

\---

_  
A long, long time ago, there was a poor woman. So poor she had to think twice about eating, or even drinking on some days. Aside from poverty, she was also a victim of social ostracization. Alone, powerless and feeling utterly worthless, the woman was about to give up one day by taking her own life when a mysterious deity came over to her. _

_  
“I can give you wealth, power and life of abundance and I can guarantee that your descendants will remain in the privilege you left them.” _

_  
The woman agreed without a second thought. She was tired of living a miserable life, as an insignificant speck in the universe. _

_  
True to the deity’s words, her life took a drastic turn soon afterwards. Wealth, power and influence found her. In a short time, she was able to amass herself a reputation as one of the most powerful figures of Fodlan. If not, the most. The deity had also granted her special capabilities that enabled her to maintain that status quo. Abilities that allowed her to dabble into the world of the unseen. _

_  
She soon married and had a family of her own. With her immense influence, it was her husband who decided to take her name, against Fodlan’s matrimony customs. _

_  
Nabatea. That was the name she decided to call her empire. It was said that she renamed herself after the deity who granted her all her wealth. _

_  
But of course, there was a catch. Nothing in life came for free after all. In exchange for her riches and extravagance, the deity demanded something else in return. _

_  
Years of her life. Power in exchange for life. _

_  
The woman found herself agreeing without any qualms. She would rather have an enjoyable short life rather than a lengthy lifespan filled with misery. She already had her children - two beautiful girls and a dashing boy. Her lineage was set. She was content with having death smite her soul at any given time. _

_  
When the time did come, she had no regrets. She would be leaving her three young children, but she was confident they would be cared for. One of her daughters, in fact, had shown signs of inheriting a special kind of ability - the ability to read thoughts. She was sure that would come in handy in safeguarding the family wealth. _

_  
However, what she failed to learn before her passing was this: that the price for power did not end with her charge. _

_  
Her daughter had mind-reading capabilities. Two of her grand-daughters had the ability of foresight and the other, a highly sensitive empath. Some of her great grand-daughters then inherited these strange powers as well. It passed on and on from generations to generations. The inheritors were always daughters and the abilities would differ in type and potency. _

_  
But one thing for sure was this: those who were granted these powers would either be crippled in health or would live a short life-span. _

_  
And the stronger their powers were, the more likely they would die at a young age. _

_  
Some called this The Curse of The Nabateans. _

  
\---

\---

Elias was four when he realized for the first time that Byleth was different from him and other kids. They were both at the age of vivid imaginations and pretend-play, an age for imaginary friends. However, while most kids had cartoonish and fantastical characters as their imaginary playmates, Byleth’s choices were a little...realistic than most. 

  
Too realistic to the point that it was as if she could see these characters with her own two eyes. There were many of them and they changed frequently. They all had names and descriptions that a four-year old would not think of or choose.

  
There was an old librarian named Tomas.

  
There was a young football player named Owain.

  
And then the beautiful blue-haired girl who loved to sing, Azura.

  
She would speak to them in an effortless manner as if they were really there in front of her.

  
One time, Elias caught Byleth in a conversation by herself when he entered their then-shared room. She was seated at their small plastic table, a plastic tea cup in front of her. Another cup was placed across her, an offering to a non-existent guest.

  
“Whatcha doin’ By?” a young Elias asked her curiously.

  
“Oh, hey Elias,” Byleth turned to him with a smile. “Just having tea with my new friend Monica here. She has some pretty funny stories about cats. Listen -”   
  
Whatever Byleth was saying, Elias couldn’t make himself pay attention to a single word because his eyes were transfixed at the tea cup that was sitting in front of the empty chair across his sister.

  
It moved. He was sure it moved. A couple of inches to the side and slowly up as if an invisible force was lifting it. Chills suddenly coursed through his body and Elias turned on his heels at lightning speed, closed the bedroom door behind him and left Byleth all alone in the room (or was she truly alone?)

  
“El? Hey El, what’s wrong?” he heard her muffled question from the other side of the door. “I don’t know why he got so scared Monica,” he then heard her say. Elias shuddered before he walked away.

  
Later that day, he told his parents about this incident, and they regarded the news with worried eyes. Jeralt looked concerned. Sitri had a downcast look as she sat down next to Elias. “Elias, sweetheart, I know this may all seem confusing and scary to you but you have to know that it’s only because Byleth is special.”

  
“Special how?” Elias blinked at Sitri.

  
“She can see things that we can’t,” Sitri replied. Elias widened his eyes at her. “They can’t hurt us but...I don’t know if it’s the same for your sister which is why you will have to protect her someday.”

  
They were big words for little Elias and he couldn’t fathom how he could protect Byleth from something invisible to his eyes. He nodded at her regardless in childlike innocence.

  
-

  
“Hey El, you still awake?” Byleth asked quietly from her bed where she was tucked in underneath her blanket. He was still awake but Elias had his back turned on Byleth. He remained still and quiet, hoping his sister would succumb to sleep soon.

  
“El, I’m sorry about Monica,” Byleth spoke softly, almost reluctantly, “mom said you’re scared of her because you can’t see her. I...I won’t bring any more friends home. I don’t know who you can see and who you can’t.”

  
He closed his eyes. Why did she need to say sorry? She didn’t do anything wrong. But Elias couldn’t bring himself to say anything back to his sister.

  
“I guess you’re sleeping. Good night then, El. I love you.”

  
Elias gripped his blanket and wrapped it tighter around himself.

  
\---

  
“I’m so sorry Jer,” Sitri whispered, almost a sob.

  
Elias paused in his tracks. He hid himself behind the wall before the entrance to their small living room of their Fhirdiad home.

  
“I had hoped Byleth would be free from those ties but I think Byleth’s ability is much more powerful than I expected.”

  
“Hey, honey, it’s not your fault,” Elias heard Jeralt say gently.

  
“I’m scared for her,” said Sitri, “if only I’m not a Nabatea...if only I didn’t inherit that...that curse.”

  
“Sitri, calm down,” Jeralt told her, “it’s only a curse if you believe it to be a curse. This could have happened to anyone and you are not responsible for what Byleth is going through right now.”

  
Elias heard a rustling followed by a pause.

  
“I don’t want them to find out what she can do,” he heard his mother say.

  
“Then they don’t have to,” Jeralt replied to her. “My job moves us around enough that we won’t be able to meet them as often. Meanwhile, we will all help By lead a normal life as best as possible.”

  
Elias decided to walk back to his room instead, thinking the conversation was too heavy for his liking. He wondered what his mother meant by curse and what his family has to do with Byleth’s special skills. But that thought soon disappeared from his little four year old mind when he entered his shared room with Byleth and he was immediately pulled by his twin to have another tea party.

  
\---

  
Sitri homeschooled them because they moved so frequently that it was frankly inefficient for them to be enrolled in a new school each time.

  
They were five and a half when they moved to Enbarr. Jeralt had been stationed there for two years, the longest he had remained in a city so far. He and Sitri decided to enroll Elias and Byleth in school for the first time since the opportunity presented itself.

  
At five years and a half, Byleth was still unable to tell the difference between real people and the ‘others’ but she was more adept to the reaction of those around her when she started talking to thin air. She knew to stop the moment she would receive concerned or bewildered gazes.

  
Despite that, Byleth’s ability was a portal of more hurdles for her young self. While Elias spent his breaks at school playing with his friends, Byleth spent her breaks alone. Elias had tried to invite her to play with him and his group of friends but she would refuse each time.

  
“Why don’t you try playing with anyone, By?” Elias asked. Byleth finally answered his question after he asked her for the third time, around two months since their school year started.

  
“There’s a girl at school and she can only play with me,” she replied.

  
Elias frowned. “Well, she can always play with the others as well. Who is she?”

  
“You can’t see her,” Byleth said, shaking her head.

  
“Oh.” Elias pursed his lips. Suddenly he remembered the words his mother had told him a year and a half ago.

_  
You will have to protect her someday._

  
“Is she...hurting you?”

  
Byleth shook her head again. “No, she isn’t.”

  
“Then why can’t you play with anyone else?”

  
“Because she doesn’t have anyone else she can play with,” Byleth smiled sadly.

  
Not pursuing the issue further was one of the biggest regrets in Elias’ life.

  
**

“Will Byleth be okay?” Elias asked, tears and snot running down his face as he gripped tightly onto Sitri’s dress. They both stared at the closed door of the emergency care unit where Byleth was in, accompanied by Jeralt and the doctor tending to her.

  
“She’ll be okay sweetheart,” Sitri replied to him, stroking his head gently. Despite her tone, Elias could see the worry brimming in her eyes.

**

The day started out fine. Great, even. For the first time since they started school, Elias saw Byleth playing with her classmates, with people he could actually see with his own eyes.

  
It started when Byleth decided to show one of the girls from her class how to perform a particularly tricky skipping rope move, which she breezed through easily, as she and Elias both had inherited Jeralt’s athleticism and excellent reflexes. Her stunt attracted a lot of her classmate’s attention and eventually she was pulled into a large scale skipping rope game with many of her classmates. She looked happy and Elias was glad for that.

  
However, when he was back in his classroom not long after their break finished, one of Byleth’s co-teachers came to him with a worried frown.

  
“Elias, do you know where your sister last went?” she spoke in a low voice as she brought him to the side. Elias scratched his head. The last time he saw Byleth, she had walked alone into the school building a few minutes before break time had ended.

  
“Maybe she is in the toilet?” he asked.

  
“We’ve checked all the restrooms and she's not there,” the teacher replied.

  
Okay, that was strange.

  
The teacher had excused Elias from his class so he could come and help her search for Byleth. They have looked in every nook and cranny of his primary school building but she was nowhere to be found.

  
They found her when they decided to look at the buildings outdoors. They started with the school’s backyard, an area where they kept the school rabbits and class gardening projects. No class was scheduled in the yard and it was a prime hiding area with all its trees and bushes.

  
It didn’t take long for them to find her. Elias spotted Byleth by the backyard’s large, oak tree. He could recognize her pink and black shoes.

  
But why was she lying on the ground? As they walked closer to her he heard a gasp coming from Byleth’s teacher.

  
“Elias...please stay where you are.” She held out her hand in front of him, stopping Elias in his tracks.

  
He frowned at her, puzzled. “But Byleth is there, I have to see if she is okay.”

  
“Elias, this isn’t a request,” the teacher said sternly. He couldn’t find in him the will to fight back.

  
Byleth’s teacher quickly ran to the young girl’s motionless figure on the ground. She crouched down by her and Elias saw her take out her phone and dial a number.

  
“Hello, paramedics, I need an ambulance. A student is injured and unconscious,” Elias heard her speak to the phone frantically. “And please hurry, I think it might be a concussion.”

***

The emergency unit door opened with a click and out came Jeralt with the doctor trailing behind him.

  
“Oh, Jer,” Sitri said as she ran towards him. “How is she?”

  
“She’ll be fine,” he whispered to her. Jeralt turned to Elias who was walking towards them. He crouched down and held his arms open. The young boy immediately ran to him and wrapped his scrawny arms around Jeralt’s neck.

  
“Hey bud, don’t look so glum, your sister will be fine.” 

  
Elias only sobbed harder into the crook of Jeralt’s neck.

  
“The scans showed no signs of extensive trauma to her skull or brain,” the doctor, a man of tall stature with neatly combed back brown hair and pristine white coat, informed them. “The bleeding was mainly caused by a surface cut. There is light bruising but no other evidence of internal bleeding. She should be awake shortly but we’d like to keep her overnight for observation.”

  
As he talked, a couple of nurses rolled Byleth out of the ER into the main hospital building. She was still unconscious as she laid on the hospital bed. There was a white bandage wrapped around her small head where her wound was.

  
“I’ll stay with her tonight, you and El can stay home later,” Jeralt said to Sitri.

  
Byleth woke up twenty minutes later to the relieved faces of Elias, Jeralt and Sitri.

  
“Slowly, sweetheart, don’t force yourself,” chided Sitri as she helped her sit up in her bed. The doctor had just finished performing some check-ups on her.

  
“By, what happened?” Elias asked her from the side of her bed. Byleth blinked at him as if processing the question.

  
“I...I made Cynthia angry,” Byleth answered reluctantly. All of them stiffened as the words came out from her mouth. _Cynthia_ was the name of her ‘invisible friend’ at school. “She was angry because I didn’t play with her at break. I tried talking to her at the garden but she got angrier and things started flying and my head suddenly hurt real bad. I don’t remember anything after that.”

  
Jeralt clenched his fist and frowned. “Is she here right now?” 

  
“Nu-uh. She can’t leave the school.”

  
“Sweetheart,” Sitri signed in exasperation, “if she is dangerous, why didn’t you leave her alone in the first place?”

  
“Because…” Byleth paused and bit her lips, “because she said she will hurt El if I don’t play with her and I don’t want her to hurt him!”

  
Her eyes started to water and she brought an arm over to cover her face. “I’m sorry…” she said in a muffled sob, her body trembling as she cried.

  
“Oh my darling, you did nothing wrong at all!” Sitri wrapped her arms around Byleth’s small frame carefully, holding her close. Jeralt went over to them and covered both of them with his broad frame.

  
“You made a brave call pumpkin. You are all right, that’s all that matters to us.”

  
Elias found himself too stunned to speak or move as he stared at his family. He was supposed to be the one protecting her but why is she the one protecting him instead? He tightened his fist around Byleth’s blanket and tried to blink away the stinging sensation that was growing at the corner of his eyes.

  
Later that night, Elias turned to Sitri, pouting, as they were having dinner. “I’m a bad brother.”

  
That took Sitri by surprise and she furrowed her eyebrows at the little downtrodden boy. “Elias Eisner, what made you think like that?”

  
I couldn’t protect Byleth,” he grumbled, his eyes casted down to his half-finished dinner.

  
“Oh honey, we can’t protect her from something we can’t see. But you being there for her already made you the greatest brother in the world,” Sitri consoled him and hovered one of her dainty hands over his small one. 

  
Despite her words, Elias couldn’t help but think of all the times Byleth had spent alone at school, and all the bewildered gazes she had to endure from strangers. She had to know things that only she could understand alone with no one else to share with.

  
“Will she be happy?” Elias asked.

  
Sitri’s gaze softened. “She already is darling, and she will be happy when you both are older.”

  
Elias tilted his head at his mother. “How do you know?”

  
Sitri smiled at him. “Because I've seen it already.”

  
\---

  
In their little family of four, Byleth wasn’t the only one who could see things that others couldn’t.

“Mom, is someone hurt?” Elias asked as he watched Sitri laying out antiseptics and band-aids on the dining table.

  
“Not yet, but someone will,” Sitri said, raising an eyebrow at him. “Don’t play too far from the house, it will be hard to come back with a scraped knee.”

  
Elias frowned. “I’m not going to fall.”

  
The corner of Sitri’s lips quirked up. “Just be careful, dear.”

  
Elias did end up scraping his knees, just as his mother had said.

  
It wasn’t the first time that Sitri had correctly anticipated what would happen, but that particular incident was the first time Elias realized that just like Byleth, his mother could also see things that people couldn’t. The difference was that she saw flashes of events that would happen. She couldn’t control when or how they would come or what she would see. It could be something that will happen ten minutes later (such a sudden unexpected rainfall during a sunny day or days when Jeralt would forget his badge to work) or years after (she saw her retired life in Remire and correctly predicted the date of death to the time of one of his great-uncles).

  
One thing that Elias knew for sure was that whatever his mother saw will happen. And if she said Byleth would be happy then he would take her words for it.

  
\---

  
Because of _Cynthia ,_ Byleth had to be transferred to another school for her safety. This time, they made sure that Byleth could not see the presence of those ‘others’ before she got enrolled. Elias was a little worried at first about the fact that he could not watch over her and help her out should she ever got into trouble again, but seeing how much happier she was at her new school, and how she was able to make a few new friends for herself, he guessed he was worried for nothing.

  
\---

  
Byleth was able to differentiate those whom she can only see by the time she was around eight.

  
By then, they had moved to Leicester as Jeralt was called by General Goneril to train the troops at the Locket. They stayed at a town at the edge of the Locket, a little peaceful suburban town graced with the presence of a big church.

  
“They’re cold to be around,” she said. It was the best explanation she could muster for them. The colder they felt the more likely they were to be as vicious as Cynthia and she learnt that if she pretended to not see them, they would leave her alone eventually. 

  
However, with one issue sorted, another decided to rear its head around this period of time.

  
“Does it mean anything if I have the same dream over and over again?” Byleth asked her family during a weekend lunch out one day.

  
Jeralt, Sitri and Elias turned to her with questioning eyes.

  
“What do you mean, By?” Jeralt asked.

  
“Well, it’s not the same exact dream each time,” she continued between bites of her sandwich, “but, like...I keep having these dreams and I’m sure they are all connected to each other somehow.”

  
“What happens in these dreams, darling?” inquired Sitri, her tone a little cautious.

  
Byleth told them of a world where she was an older version of herself, in a Fodlan that resembled the fairy tales books she read and films she watched, with castles and knights gallantly galloping on horsebacks or flying on wyverns and pegasi. There were mages that shot menacing fireballs as well as monks and priestesses that heal with their light of faith. Byleth saw herself as a skilled mercenary, wielding her sword against bandits and evil-doers.

  
“I think I was called the Ashen Demon by some people.”

  
“Sounds like you wrote yourself a story there, By. I think you need to ease up on the fantasy content,” Elias chuckled.

  
Byleth rolled her eyes at her brother’s comment. “It’s just strange that I’ve been having these dreams for a while now.”

  
“Does it happen everyday?” Jeralt asked

  
Byleth shook her head. “Once or twice a week, but I know they are connected each time.”

  
“Do you see anyone in them?” Sitri asked.

  
“Faces are a blur to me and I forget them when I wake up.” She paused before her eyes lit up. “Oh! Except one person. He recently appeared but I always remembered how he looked- he has green eyes, slightly tan skin and dark hair. He wields a bow and arrow. “ She then sighed, a fond smile playing across her face. “He’s very nice to me in my dreams and I always feel happy when he shows up.”

  
Sitri chuckled. Jeralt narrowed his eyes slightly and Elias raised an eyebrow at this development. Was his sister crushing on someone from her dreams?

  
“Is this person someone you know in real life?” Jeralt asked. There was an edge in his tone and in his head, Elias mused at how he pitied the poor soul who would one day ask for her sister’s hand. Getting the approval of the iron wall that was Jeralt Eisner would not be an easy feat.

  
“No, I’ve never met or seen anyone like that in real life before,” Byleth replied.

  
“Well, maybe you will soon and he will make you so happy,” Sitri grinned at her.

  
"Sitri, don’t encourage her,” Jeralt groaned. They all laughed at Jeralt’s exasperation and the conversation over Byleth’s dreams was promptly forgotten for that moment.

  
\---

  
They were ten when Byleth woke up in tears from her dreams for the first time since she started having them.

  
“By! By, what’s wrong?!” Elias called out to her, shaking her shoulders lightly. Byleth had her head in her hands, her eyes shut tightly in an attempt to drown whatever it was that was haunting her so.

  
“No...no...why did you make me do it, why did I have to kill her…” he heard her murmur under her breath.

  
“Kids! What’s going on?” Jeralt’s booming voice asked from outside their room. Their bedroom door slammed open and Elias saw his parents quickly trailing in, no doubt woken up and alerted by the heartwrenching wail Byleth had let out when she woke up.

  
“I think Byleth had a nightmare…” Elias answered on her behalf, although he wasn’t sure of it himself either as his sister was acting as if she saw something horrendous play out right in front of her eyes.

  
“She called me her teacher….she said she wanted to walk in step in with me...even when we were enemies...we were friends before and yet…” Byleth broke down even more, her entire form trembling uncontrollably. “It was my sword that killed her, I didn’t want to...there was so much blood...oh god...”

  
“Honey, it’s okay, it’s okay, it’s just a nightmare,” Sitri said, holding Byleth’s shaking figure in her arms.

  
“But it felt so real,” she whined weakly, “it felt like a terrible memory.”

  
Byleth cried herself to sleep in Sitri’s arms, holding onto her mother’s nightgown tightly and refusing to let go.

  
“I don’t think these are normal dreams,” Sitri whispered to Jeralt once she made sure that Byleth was fast asleep.

  
“I think so too...she’s had them for two years now and each time they only get more vivid,” Jeralt replied from across them on Elias’ bed. Elias was leaning against his side, drifting off to sleep. But he was conscious enough to be able to take in the conversations between his parents.

  
“Her abilities...they are much more potent than I probably thought,” Sitrie said.

  
“Have you seen anything else of her future?”

  
“Not really,” Sitri shook her head. “Only that one where she will come to us smiling and tell us that she’s happy.”

  
Jeralt sighed. “Well then, we can only hope that what you have seen means good things are in store for her later.”

  
“Yes,” Sitri held Byleth closer to her, “we can only hope so.”

  
\----

  
One time, whatever she had dreamt has horrified her so much so that it forced her to run to the bathroom and throw up.

  
“I had to kill him...the Crescent Moon Man…” she explained shakily. Crescent Moon Man was what she had started to call the mysterious man she kept on seeing her dreams because she said once that when he fights, she sometimes sees a flash of light shaped like a crescent on behind him. “But even until the end he never lost faith in me...and even until then he said he would never let me go.”

  
After that particular nightmare, Sitri and Jeralt decided to take Byleth for medical intervention. At first, they tried several relaxing and de-stressing methods the psychiatrist have advised her to do, to no apparent success. It was then that she was prescribed sleeping medications that will aid her in having dreamless sleep. It worked, somehow, though they tend to leave her feeling lethargic for most days. After three weeks, Byleth decided to stop the treatment voluntarily.

  
“I missed being in that world,” Byleth told him with a small smile, “and I also miss him.”

  
\----

  
“Stargazing again?” Elias sighed.

  
Byleth turned to him and shrugged. “It’s a pleasant night.”

  
Elias climbed out of their attic window and took his spot next to Byleth on the slanted roof of their house. They were both fifteen and after several years in Leicester, from the Locket to Derdriu, they moved back to Faerghus once more. This time, they resided in Charon instead of Fhirdiad. Both Elias and Byleth took delight in this as they both hated the frigid winter of Fhirdiad.

  
“Hey El,” Byleth muttered, breaking their silence.

  
“Yeah?”

  
“I think I’m in love,” she sighed.

  
Elias turned his head to Byleth so quickly he was certain he almost got whiplash.

  
“What?! With who?”

  
He tried to recall anyone in their past schools and their current school whom Byleth could take romantic interest in but he couldn’t pinpoint anyone.

  
“It’s the Crescent Moon Man,” she chuckled.

  
“Oh,” Elias rolled his eyes. “No offense, but we all kind of knew you were into him since the first time you talked about him.”

  
“Yeah, but I’m talking actual love,” Byleth argued back, “like being married to him and spending my life with him kind of love.”

  
Elias narrowed his eyes at his sister. “You already had dreams of being married to him?”

  
Bylet nodded at his question.

  
“Isn’t that...illegal? You’re like fifteen and you first had those dreams when you were eight?”

  
“I’m an adult in those dreams, remember?” Byleth scoffed, “and no, so far I’ve only dreamt of innocent moments with him. It’s only recently that...spicier things have popped up.”

  
“...How spicy?” Elias raised an eyebrow at her.

  
Byleth grinned at him. “Let’s just say I am no longer a _pure, young girl_ in that world.”

  
“Okay, actually, I don’t want to know,” Elias shook his head quickly, earning him a laugh from Byleth. He grimaced at the thought of his sister’s ...romantic endeavors. At the same time, the notion itself awakened a sense of protectiveness within him. After everything that Byleth had gone through so far with her powers, Elias wouldn’t give anyone a chance to inflict any heartbreak on his sister. She didn’t need that extra baggage.

  
It was just too bad that the person who currently held her heart was someone living in her head. How is he supposed to give the big brother talk to that kind of person? 

  
(He was only a few seconds older from Byleth, sure, but he liked to think it deserved him the role of her older brother.)

  
A peaceful few minutes of quiet passed between them as they both gazed out at the star-lit night sky.

  
“I’m so tired, El,” Byleth murmured.

  
“You haven’t done anything today, stop sounding like a grand...ma…” Elias trailed off when he turned to Byleth and saw her face downcast, her eyes ladened with melancholy.

  
“I’m tired of seeing things that others can’t, when I’m awake and when I’m sleeping,” Byleth continued, “it’s lonely...and I don’t even know if I’m meant to do something out of this strange powers I have...who can I really talk about this to?”

  
She sighed, bringing her knees close to her chest.

  
“Sometimes the things I see get so heavy I just want to disappear….get a break from it all.”

  
“Whoa, By, don’t talk like that,” Elias chided her. “You know you can tell me anything, anytime. Mom and dad as well.”  
  
“I know,” she turned and gave him a weak smile, ”but no matter what, you can’t truly comprehend the things I see.”

  
Elias winced slightly at the truth in her words. She was right. She could talk to him and he would lend her an ear as well as offer her words of consolation and comfort. But no matter what he did, he would never be able to fully understand how she felt or imagine these visions that haunted her. Knowing Byleth’s tendency to dislike making others worry about her, he reckoned the things she told him were merely a small fraction of the things she saw.

  
And no matter what he did, Elias cannot shield her from the souls she saw nor take away her recurring dreams - the two things she probably wanted the most.

  
“Maybe you can start writing your dreams out in a journal or something, I heard writing can be therapeutic,” Elias suggested.

  
“Hmm…” Byleth tilted her head at him, “that’s actually not a bad idea.” Her face softened and Elias could see a little more spirit in her demeanor. “Thanks, El. For always being there for me.”

  
He stretched out his art to her, his hand curled into a fist pointing to her. “That's what twins are for.”

  
Byleth chuckled at him and bumped her own curled fist against his.

  
\---

Two weeks later Byleth came home with a stack of leather-covered journals.

  
“I’m going to keep these under my bed and the only ones who know about them will be you, mom and dad.” She dropped them on her table with a huff. “...And possibly the Crescent Moon Man...if he does exist.”  
  
Elias smirked at her from the doorway of her room. “Okay, By, whatever you say.”

\---

  
Sitri’s heart condition manifested when they were seventeen. The Eisners were in Bergliez when it happened as Jeralt had been stationed in Fort Merceus.

  
Seeing her condition, Jeralt thought that to continuously move would put a strain on her health and so, once his contract at Fort Merceus ended, he decided to take the entire family back to his hometown of Remire and take a permanent post there, where they would be closer to his relatives and at a closer proximity to the Nabateans in Garreg Mach.

  
As for Elias, the turn of events was the driving force in his choice to follow Jeralt’s footsteps. Seeing his mother and sister - both women with extraordinary abilities but in exchange leaving a part of them fragile - had grown the desire in him to protect both of them even more and refining his skills in the military would help him achieve that goal. He wanted to do so and was confident he would do well in it, given his exceptional physical abilities.

  
“Honey, I want you to pursue what you want to do. Don’t change your life plans for my sake,” Sitri said to him when he told her of his life plan.

  
“I’m not, mom, military path like dad has been something I considered for a while,” Elias reassured her.

  
“Okay, if you say so.” Sitri reached out and held his hand. “Thank you for thinking of me and your sister in your decision.” She met his faze, her expression shifting to something more serious.

  
“But nevermind me, I want you to watch over your sister for the years to come.”

  
Elias furrowed his eyebrows at her. “Why? Did you see something happening to her?” he asked with a tinge of worry.

  
“No...” she shook her head, “but it doesn’t hurt to be pre-emptive.”

  
She didn’t elaborate any further beyond that. However, Elias had a nagging feeling of unease that he couldn’t shrug off from his mother’s words. He would surely keep his eyes on Byleth as long as he was able to.

  
\---

  
When they graduated from school, Byletth went on to get her teaching degree and Elias enrolled himself in the military school, both situated in Remire. They were both reluctant to travel far away from home, Byleth deciding to stay out of concern for Sitri’s condition and Elias wanting to ensure the safety and wellness of his mother and sister.

  
Byleth went on to take a teaching job at a school in an impoverished area in Remire.

  
“Helping others distracts me from my own mind,” Byleth shrugged when Elias asked her of the reason behind her choice of school, despite the fact that she’s qualified for a better paying institution. “Besides, I’ve listened to too many anecdotes of people wishing that they had done something more meaningful when they were alive so I want to make sure I do something for a cause I would be proud of looking back on.”

  
Elias himself had created a stellar reputation for himself in his school, a little due to his relation to the legendary Captain Jeralt Eisner but a lot thanks to his skills and capabilities in combat. It was as if he was born to strategize, fight and defend. He quickly snagged a position as an instructor in the academy despite his age.

  
A few years later, Byleth managed to get her poetry anthology published. She wrote it in hopes that it would reach her “Crescent Moon Man”. Elias truly commended her devotion to this mysterious person. The book was called “The Crescent Moon and The Fell Star.”

  
“He calls me his star quite often,” she explained to Elias with a fond smile.

  
“And the pseudonym? Sothis?” he asked.

  
“I don’t want any recognition from this book, I just want it to reach him,” she answered. “And as for Sothis, I can’t really explain it but in my dreams...she’s a part of me.”

  
\---

  
Putting Byleth and Sitri’s powers aside, life had moved on quite well for all of them at that point. Byleth had found happiness in her job and she volunteered to teach in orphanages during her free time. Her dream was for one day to open her own institution where anyone could receive the best opportunities despite their life circumstances. 

  
As for Elias, he was slowly becoming a replacement for Jeralt in the military school as Jeralt took his pension to spend more time with Sitri.

  
They have found their ‘normal’ at last. Everything was right in their places. Elias thought that the Eisners could finally breathe easy for the remainder of their lives.

  
\---

  
But then Byleth’s accident came upon them like an unwelcome meteor crashing in, shattering their content, settled life. 

  
Sitri had fainted when they received the call and it took all of Elias’ willpower not to break down when he saw his sister in the hospital after she had been tended to by the medical team. Her head and torso was wrapped in bandages and casts, cables and wires connected out of her, several linking her to a life support, the beeping that reverberated from the machine telling them the horror of her pain.

  
The doctor had informed them that she fell into a coma. For how long, none of them knew. In fact, it was even a miracle that she was still alive from her grave injuries.

  
Sitri had insisted, as she tried to steady her erratic heartbeat, that Byleth would be fine because her vision of her daughter telling them that she was happy had not happened yet. And her foresights always happened. So Byleth would survive. Jeralt held her hand and tried giving her words of comfort but Elias knew deep down inside, past the strong facade his father put up, he was in a lot of pain seeing his ‘little pumpkin’ in such condition.

  
The doctor had told Elias in private, to avoid aggravating Sitri’s condition, that they shouldn’t put much hope on her survival.

  
That night, Elias walked into Byleth’s empty room and allowed himself to break down.

  
After everything he had tried to do, he still failed to protect one of the people he wanted to protect the most.

  
It was as good as killing him inside.

\---

_Tell me your secrets and ask me your questions_   
_Oh, let's go back to the start_

_Running in circles, coming up tails_   
_Heads on a science apart_

_\- The Scientist, Coldplay_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I wrote this story but I want to hug these babies right now.


	6. My Immortal

Claude, for his part, was rendered speechless long after Elias had finished recounting what was, perhaps, the entire life history of the Eisners to him. It was, for a lack of better words, a whirlwind of a journey and a story he did not expect to uncover at all. 

  
What was he supposed to say to all of that?

  
“You are _freaking_ kidding me,” he managed to utter after he felt the gears in his head stop processing the words. There was a slight bitterness in his tone and he knew it was caused by two things; the knowledge that Byleth had kept such an important aspect of her from him; and the second, the realization that she had went through a lonely struggle throughout her life, and he wasn’t able to be there for her for those moments - to support her and to protect her. If they were each other’s destined then why hadn’t fate allowed them to meet at an earlier time? Why now?

  
“Unfortunately, Byleth is the one with the story-crafting skills. I’m only relaying everything that has happened in our lives right now,” Elias replied to him.

  
Claude scanned Elias’ face closely, trying to detect any signs of jesting in his demeanor. To his dismay, he found no signs of it. Elias’ face remained flat and void of emotions, reminiscent of how Byleth was at times when she talked, especially when she was in a particularly serious mood.

  
Claude took a deep breath before speaking once more. “So let me get this right, you and Byleth are Nabateans from your mother’s side?”

  
Elias nodded at him.

  
“And then there’s apparently a running ‘ _curse_ ’ in your family passed down among the women and Byleth along with Sitri happened to be among those who have it?” Claude frowned “So what now? We find a way to break that chain so Byleth can be saved? Is that it?”   
  
  
Elias rolled his eyes at Claude’s remarks. “If we were a part of a cliched thriller, yeah, but this is reality and unfortunately the answers are not always as clear cut.” The man ruffled his blue locks and huffed before continuing. “Like I said, curse or not, it’s up to you which one you want to believe. I personally don’t even know if the lore I told you is true. But the fact remains that Byleth, mom and some of our relatives I know have these strange abilities. You’re from Garreg Mach right? I don’t know if you’ve ever met Flayn -”

  
“Flayn!” Claude exclaimed, cutting off Elias abruptly in his sentence. “Yes, I know her! She saw Byleth! She can vouch for me that she’s been around!”

  
Bewilderment crossed Elias’ face for a brief second before he let out a sigh. “Flayn is a Nabatean. She’s our distant cousin.” He paused, looking straight at Claude before continuing. “She has similar powers to Byleth. She can see things that we can’t see.”

  
Claude felt his blood run cold once more, could sense his heart plummeting to the depths of the earth.

  
Elias went on. “Her ability is not as powerful as Byleth’s. These ‘others,’...they don’t appear as clearly to her. But Byleth’s connection to the unseen is strong. She can touch them, they can touch her. She sees them as if she's seeing another living person.”

  
“But...Byleth isn’t dead,” Claude pointed out.

  
“No,” Elias replied, his gaze downcast. “But she isn’t exactly alive either right now. By did tell me once that not all the souls she sees are those who died. Some are people who have been unconscious for a long time...just like she is now.”

  
“Fuck,” Claude muttered under his breath. He cursed again. And again. He held his head in his hand, feeling his surroundings spin from processing all the information he was not expecting to receive when he left for Remire. He wanted to reject them all, to declare all of them as lies. But he couldn’t because with Elias’ explanations, some of the things that Claude found peculiar for the past couple of months started to make sense.

  
For example, why Flayn had frequently given him those sad, pitying looks when she thought he wasn’t looking. Or the fact that in Fables she always had him sitting upstairs and, miraculously, it was always empty without fail regardless of how busy the cafe was. It also explained why despite having enough staff, Flayn was always the one who waited on them and brought their orders up to them. Claude didn’t think anything of it the first few times. He just assumed it was because she was a close friend of Byleth’s and was curious of his developing relationship with her. But it kept going on even after he had established his relationship with Byleth - even after Byleth had moved in with him. It left him a little perplexed after a while but he never really got a chance to ask because he rather liked their little arrangement at Fables.

  
As for Byleth, well, if everything that had been said to him just now was true then it would explain her strange isolation. That would explain why she avoided crowded places like a plague, preferring empty and desolate surroundings. That would explain why she refused to meet his friends and family despite showing great interest in them.

  
That would explain why, when he strolled around with Byleth in Garreg Mach, he often felt as if people could only see him and there was no presence beside him.

  
Claude suddenly remembered the night that he held her hand for the first time at the park back in Garreg Mach. He remembered the jogger who ran past her and kept going without even sparing a glance at the person he practically ran over. 

  
This was all because...she was invisible to everyone else?

  
“Why was I able to see her then?! I have none of the powers Byleth has,” Claude asked.

  
“Beats me,” Elias shook his head. “If I could take a guess - and this is just my theory - it would probably be because of her mysterious link with the unseen. On top of that, you two share some kind of bond.” He curled a finger around his chin. “And it could also be because she's been wanting to meet you more than anything in her life.”

 _  
Destined, _ a voice in Claude’s head said suddenly. Claude reeled over momentarily at the intrusion of a mysterious voice in his head that wasn’t his own. What..who was that?”

  
“I don’t know how to process all of this,” Claude grimaced.

  
“Honestly, same,” Elias chuckled. He turned to the wall clock hanging in Byleth’s room. “Are you planning to return to Garreg Mach tonight?”

  
Claude shifted his gaze to the clock, not realizing how long he had stayed there in the room listening to Elias. It was late.

  
“I took the day off for tomorrow. I’ll find a hotel somewhere around. I think I’m not finished here yet,” he said.

  
“You can stay here if you want,” Elias nodded at him.

  
Claude blinked at the man. “You do realize you’re asking a total stranger to spend the night at your house?” he asked him, raising an eyebrow.

  
“Yeah but we’re not done with you yet, either. I’m sure mom and dad would want to rack your brain over what you know about Byleth. Plus, it’s more convenient for us to track you down if you’re here.” He cocked his head at Claude’s direction. “That is, if you want to.”

  
Claude turned to the box of journals placed on top of the desk next to him. There were things he wanted to know more in the house- about Byleth’s past that he hadn’t gotten a chance to know in the time they had been together.

  
The house was also the most concrete connection he had to Byleth right now.

  
“I’d like that, thanks, if that won’t be too much trouble,” Claude nodded.

  
“It’s fine. Pretty sure our dad would want to have some serious talk with you later as well,” Elias smirked at him, “he’s quite protective of Byleth.”

  
Claude gulped unconsciously. Did this count as the father-boyfriend talk? Claude never had to go through that in his past so far, seeing as his relationships never made it past single digit weeks before Byleth. Did he still have the time to contact Sylvain and ask him for advice on how to impress your girlfriend’s military father?

  
“Also, maybe have some more solid evidence of your time with By, just in case,” Elias added, “dad is a lot harder to convince than I am when it comes to...things that are beyond logic.”

  
“Evidence huh.” Claude rummaged through his pocket and pulled out his phone. He pressed on the gallery icon. “That’s easy.”

\---

\---

_Click._

_  
Byleth paused in the middle of tending the lily vase she had Claude bought for the coffee table and turned to him, eyes narrowing slightly. “Did you just take a picture of me?” _

_  
“Yep,” Claude grinned, lowering the phone in his hand to meet her gaze. “I’m commemorating our first day as a cohabiting couple. I’m finally shacking up with the girl of my dreams. Literally.” _

_  
Byleth rolled her eyes at him. “I must have looked terrible in that.” _

_  
“Byleth, my star and my light, you could be wearing the most ragged outfit and be covered in dirt from head to toe and you would still be the most beautiful woman in my eyes,” Claude argued dramatically. He turned his phone screen to her. “And I beg to differ with your assumptions, you look positively radiant.” _

_  
Byleth shifted closer to the rectangular device in Claude’s hand to take a better look at the image that was showcased on its screen. The picture was of her kneeling by the coffee table, her hands cradling the green vase which housed four stems of white lilies. Her face was soft and a content smile graced her lips as she gazed at the flowers like they were precious jewels. Claude had also set his lens in a way that captured bits of the late afternoon sunlight that filtered through the apartment’s viewing range, giving her face a warm glow. It was a simple picture that encapsulated the fondness the photographer had to the subject. _

_  
Byleth widened her eyes slightly at the image. “It’s...not bad.” _

_  
“It’s amazing and you know it,” Claude smirked at her which prompted Byleth to roll her eyes once more. “Speaking of pictures, I just realized something.” _

_  
“What is it?” Byleth asked. _

_  
“How is it that we’ve been together for a while now and we don’t have a picture together? That should be a crime in this digital and narcissistic age.” _

_  
Byleth shrugged at him. “I’m not much of a picture person.” _

_  
“Neither am I. But I think we are beyond the stage of not having any pictures together don’t you think?” _

_  
Byleth raised an eyebrow. _

_  
“Just for keepsakes,” Claude moved forward to her and took one of her hands in his, “there won’t be posting or sharing of it anywhere.” He leaned his forehead against hers and gave her his signature puppy look. One which he knew she tended to have a hard time saying no to. “So...what do you say?” _

_  
Her blue orbs met his green ones, calculating. She sighed in defeat a few seconds later. “All right,” she said, a gentle smile forming on her face and Claude felt his heart soar. “For memories’ sake.” _

_  
“Yes!” Claude’s face split into a grin. “Come on, let’s take one now while the lighting is still good.” He pulled her with him to his couch and he heard a small giggle from her as he did so. He turned back, meeting her elated face with one of his own. _

_  
“Okay,” he said as they both sat next to each other on his couch. He turned the camera on his phone to its front-facing mode, moving it around to find the perfect angle, all while Byleth watched his actions in quiet amusement, her chin resting on his shoulder. _

_  
“I think this is good,” Claude finally declared. He wrapped an arm around Byleth’s shoulder, pulling her closer to him. “Now, come on, one, two, three, smile!” _

_  
Click. _

_  
“Done?” Byleth turned to him. _

_  
“Not yet. Again. One, two, three…” _

_  
Click. _

_  
“Aaand last one. One, two, three….” _

_  
As he was about to tap on the ‘capture’ button, Claude felt warmth suddenly press against his cheek. _

_  
Click. _

_  
“Hey, you sneak,” Claude turned to Byleth, pinching her nose playfully as she threw him a smirk. _

_  
“Let me see the pictures,” Byleth said. _

_  
Claude opened his phone gallery and selected the images he just took. The first two were of him and Byleth huddled together smiling in slightly different poses at the camera, the lighting from windows falling on them, bathing both them in its golden gleam. In the third one, Byleth had pressed up her lips against his cheek in a kiss, her eyes closed and Claude had smiled directly at the camera, small red streaks blooming on his face. _

_  
“We look great together, don’t we?” Claude commented. _

_  
“We look perfect,” Byleth told him and Claude hummed in agreement, a flush of warmth permeated his chest. “Send me those?” _

_  
“Sure thing,” Claude nodded. _

_  
That night as they both readied themselves for bed, Claude saw, as he passed Byleth’s side of the bed, that she had put up the third picture as her phone wallpaper. That fact left a smile on his face for the rest of the night until sleep took over him. _

_  
On her phone, the picture of them remained. The crack that cascaded down her screen fell upon her image but left his side of the picture safe in its original glory. _

\---

\---

Claude allowed a fond smile to escape his features as he briefly looked back upon the memory. He turned his attention back to his phone screen, searching for the collection of pictures in his gallery with Byleth in them.

  
Only…

  
“What the…” his eyes widened as his complexion paled.

  
“What’s wrong?” Elias frowned at him. He stood up from the bed and walked over to stand behind Claude who was looking at his phone screen as if it was a ghost from his past.

  
“These pictures….” Claude stammered, quickly scrolling past a series of images. Confusion struck the blue haired man as all he could see were pictures of backgrounds without subjects. And then there were several images of Claude alone. However, what was odd was that Claude posed as if there was someone next to him. He would be off-frame to the side, at times staring at the empty space next to him.

  
“These were the ones with Byleth in them...I don’t understand,” he spoke, his hand shaking slightly. “Instead there are these specks of light in places where she should be.”

  
Elias squinted his eyes at the screen, and upon closer look he realized Claude was right. At a glance, there didn’t seem to be anything occupying the empty spaces. But if one looked carefully, there was a collection of small glowing orbs positioned where a person would be in each image. If it was only in one picture, he would take that as a camera fluke, but in every single shot?

  
“I’m torn between believing you and thinking of you as crazy right now,” Elias muttered.

  
Claude felt a similar sentiment of himself at that moment. He was starting to doubt his sanity. Was everything that he experienced in the past months a mere fragment of his imagination? Did his deepest consciousness yearn for Byleth’s presence so desperately that his mind began to manifest her presence in his wake?

  
“Hang on,” Claude said. He closed his gallery and scrolled to another application. His expression lit up. “Yes! They’re still there, the messages I exchanged with Byleth.”

  
“Show me the phone number,” Elias prodded. Claude allowed the other man to take a closer look at his screen.

  
“That... is her phone number.” He frowned. “Let me check something.” He walked over to the desk and pulled open its top drawer. He then drew out a small device that Claude had familiarized himself with over the past few months.

  
“That’s her phone…” he noted, swallowing the lump forming at the back of his throat. “Has that been here the entire time?”

  
“Yes,” Elias nodded. “We’ve kept it here since her accident and it has not been turned on for a while.” Elias pressed on the power switch of the phone and its screen lit up, highlighting the recognizable crack that ran across the device’s screen. “Damn it, I forgot what the passcode was.”

  
“Zero-four-two-three,” Claude said without missing a beat. 

  
Elias raised an eye-brow at him. “Is there any significance to that number?”   
  


Claude cleared his throat, averting his eyes from Elias. “In our dreams that’s the date of our ...wedding.”

  
“I see,” Elias murmured.

"It's more of the fact that it's a date she remembered well that nobody else knows than the sentiments behind it," Claude added.

Elias didn’t add anything else, thankfully, and instead proceeded to key in the numbers. Sure enough, there was the audible click of the phone unlocking. Claude saw Elias inhale sharply, the phone in his hand vibrating to life from notifications.

  
“Well, Claude, I guess you got yourself some damning proof.”

  
Claude noticed the colors gradually diminishing from the other man’s face. He gave Elias a questioning glance.

  
Elias turned the phone screen to Claude. “Unless you have an explanation as to how this took place on a phone that has been inactive and kept in this desk the entire time, then I am inclined to believe you...as crazy as it seems.”

  
Displayed on the phone’s home screen was a picture he recognized well. It was one of the first pictures he and Byleth had taken together, the one where she had snuck a kiss on his cheek in their apartment. Except this time, instead of both of them in it, it was just him, smiling bashfully at the camera. Instead of Byleth next to him, there were those specks of light hovering over his couch, some planting themselves on his tanned face. It was the same image Byleth had on her phone. This exact phone. The phone Elias claimed had never left the house or the drawer it was safely locked in the past months.

  
For the umpteeth time that day, Claude felt a violent chill traversing his entire being.

\---

\---

Claude tossed and turned on the queen-sized bed. It wasn’t the bed at his house, the one he had shared many nights with Byleth. No, he was on her bed instead, the place where she probably had spent many nights jolted awake by the things she could see and understand alone. He shifted to his side. Although he was on Byleth’s bed, he couldn’t feel traces of her. There wasn’t that lingering floral scent on the pillow cases she normally left behind on his bed. He loved that she did that, her scent gave him a sense of peace and calm when she was not next to him.

  
He turned to his other side, facing the rest of the room. The naturally curious part of him wanted to explore and rummage every part of the room, to dig up and discover new things about Byleth that he didn’t know yet. The only thing stopping him from doing that was the fact that Jeralt Eisner was only a few steps away from him across the hall and could barge in any moment. And he really didn’t want to be caught by the man going through and making a disarray out of his precious daughter’s room like some kind of thief, or worse, perverted stalker. Besides, the man had made some convincing arguments for him not to do anything that could be deemed suspicious.

-

_Claude rolled in the small suitcase he had packed with him along the stone pathway leading up to the Eisners' house. He chuckled to himself out of bitter mirth at the unorthodox way he would be spending his first night at a significant other’s family house. He should feel a little nervous but with everything that was going on, he couldn’t find within himself the energy to feel so._

_  
When he entered the house, he saw Elias sitting on the living room sofa by the fireplace and Jeralt standing next to him. They both turned their attention to him once they noticed his footsteps in the house. Jeralt, in particular, had shot him a stern look. _

_  
“Elias has filled me in a bit on the situation,” he said. _

_  
Claude couldn’t help but gulp, feeling himself shrink under the man’s sharp gaze. “Yes, I can explain if you want - “ _ _  
  
_ _  
“We’ll talk tomorrow,” Jeralt cut him off, “it’s late and I want to process all of this first.” He took a few steps forward until he was looming over Claude, “Let me set some ground rules while you stay here. First, ideally, I don’t want any man, let alone a complete stranger, staying in my daughter’s room. But given the situation, I’ll make an exception. However, make a mess of anything and you’re out.” _

_  
Claude nodded quickly. _

_  
“I’ll be in the room across and I’ll be listening for anything suspicious. Believe me when I say you don’t want to know what I’m capable of doing to you if I catch you doing anything questionable.” _

_  
Claude nodded again, a nervous drop of sweat trickling down the side of his head. In the background he could hear a snicker coming from Elias. _

_  
“Elias will be down here for the night, mainly to keep watch. But also, if you need anything, find him for it." Jeralt crossed his pair of muscular arms across his chest. “Understood all that?” _

_  
“Yes, sir, all noted,” Claude replied without missing a beat. He resisted the urge to form a salutation to the former captain. _

_  
“Okay, good. I’ll see you tomorrow then.” Jeralt turned and headed in the direction of the stairs. _

_  
“Thank you for letting me stay here,” Claude managed to say before Jeralt was out of sight. There was no response. Claude breathed out a sigh of relief. He turned to Elias, who was leaning on the couch, arms crossed and eyes closed. _

_  
“Well, I guess I’ll go up,” he told him. _

_  
“I’ll take you to her tomorrow,” he heard Elias say. _

_  
Claude paused in his tracks and turned back to see the other man, who still had his eyes closed. _

_  
"Byleth,” Elias explained. “I’ll take you to see her tomorrow.” He cracked his eyes open slightly. “So prepare yourself.” _

-

Claude let out an exasperated groan as he sat up on the bed, ruffling his hair wildly. In all seriousness, how could he sleep now? He would finally get to see Byleth at last. But in what state? Would he be ready to face her? Anxiety and dread filled every fibre of his being. He turned to the box of journals on the table.

  
He sighed. Well, he was not getting sleep anytime soon. He stood up from the bed and stepped towards the desk, plopping himself down in the study chair. He took out a dust-covered journal from the box and cracked the book open.

  
-

 _You used to captivate me by your resonating light_  
 _Now, I'm bound by the life you left behind_  
 _-My Immortal, Evanescence_  


  
  
  



	7. Interlude: White Clouds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These are snippets of Byleth's dreams that Claude had read from her journal. Written in third person because I can't write in first person without making the entire thing sound jarring. (But do imagine Claude reading it off Byleth's journal in first person format).

Cheers erupted among the group of battered-looking soldiers and warriors around her, but their worn-out state did little to dampen the elation that was imbued within all of them. Byleth scanned her surroundings, finding the corner of her lips lilting up as she felt the infectious exuberance of her closest comrades beginning to wash over her.

  
“Another strategy well executed, my friend,” she heard a voice say from next to her. She felt a hand on her shoulder and she knew who those gloved fingers belonged to. She turned to him, meeting eyes with twinkling jade orbs that were looking at her with a softness that she noticed would surface only for her.

  
It was him. Her mysterious Crescent Moon Man. He was his older self and she loved the way his matured appearance looked, with those sharp jawlines and neatly combed dark hair. Especially those eyes that held her prisoner everytime his gaze landed on her.

  
The noise around her dissipated and she could only see him.

  
“It was a valiant effort from all of us,” Byleth managed to reply, “and the army wouldn’t be as moved without a leader who could inspire them,  _ Your Lordship _ ,” she drawled teasingly at his title, a little side smirk on her face.

  
Claude chuckled at her attempt to jest. “A lord is nothing without a reliable partner.”

  
Partner. 

  
She understood what he meant. To others who overheard them, it would mean as his ever-reliable general of war, the consultant to the affairs of Alliance leadership. But between Byleth and him, they knew the word encompassed much more than that. After all, they knew they were not mere comrades in arms. Not with the way they had spent late nights together talking about anything and everything but the war at hand, merely stealing opportunities to relish in the feeling of being connected to someone so profoundly. Not in the way that they recently, away from the prying eyes of others, had braved themselves to touch each other in ways that spoke more than words would let on. Fleeting moments of intertwined hands and brief hugs. Standing so close to each other that their shoulders brushed, faces merely inches away from one another as they gazed at the late night sky. 

  
But in the eyes of others they were partners with unwavering trust in one another, nothing more. And so they both turned to see their celebrating army, relishing their victory over Fort Merceus. 

  
Their celebrations were short-lived, however, when huge javelins suddenly rained upon them. Everyone scrambled to safety. As they evaded the attack Byleth saw, next to her, a horror she couldn’t forget. A stray rubble flying at the person running beside her. A petite white-haired mage whose face and name Byleth couldn’t discern in her wake.

  
Byleth saw blood, a sight that was enough to make her hurl the contents of her stomach. Her blood ran cold and she found herself frozen by the sight.

  
No, she couldn’t let this happen. 

  
So she did what she always did when she saw her friends at death's door.

  
She reached within herself and turned back the flow of time.

  
Only for a couple of minutes earlier, but it was enough for Byleth to anticipate the rubble that would bring about her friend's accidental slaughter. Byleth ran to her side, stopping behind the small mage and shielding her from the incoming giant boulder. She pulled out her sword and swung at the rock, shattering it into smaller pieces. Those pieces weren’t enough to be lethal but at the speed they were flying, they were enough to inflict serious injuries on someone, as Byleth discovered herself when she felt some of those rocks plummet her legs, shoulders and head in her attempt to shield the mage from them.

  
“Professor!” she heard the mage cry at her once the barrage of rocks and javelins subsided, “are you okay?!”

  
“Yeah..I’m fine…” Byleth managed to reply weakly. But the searing pain she felt all over her body betrayed her words. It took all of her strength to push herself up and sit upright, supporting herself against the remnants of a wall.

  
All around her, she could feel her comrades’ concern for her condition, but before anyone could come to her,  _ he _ came rushing to her side first. He crouched down and took one of her hands in his, their fingers intertwining. He leaned his forehead against hers and from behind her blood-stained eyelids, Byleth could see his face filled with worry for her.

  
“That was a reckless move, Teach,” he told her in a frantic whisper. “Are you all right?” 

  
She gave him her affirmation, wincing as she felt a jolt of pain on her shoulders.

  
“We could have lost you just now,” he said, his other hand brushing against the side of her head, wiping away the grime and blood on her skin.

  
“I had to do it, otherwise she’d have been in more danger,” she replied, referring to the small mage she managed to save from the clutch of death’s door. Byleth thought she mentioned a name but she couldn’t remember. “Besides, generals can always be replaced,” Byleth added.

  
The man’s hand moved to cradle her cheek. It was a gesture that was too tender than the facade they normally put up in public and it touched upon the truth of their shared feelings for each other. One that they vowed to keep discreet from others until the time was right.

  
“Not you. Never you. You are irreplaceable in every way and I’m not about to lose you again,” he hissed. He waved over for someone to come and tend to her wounds. “Now, let’s get you healed up.”

  
If Byleth had to be honest, his words were already enough to heal her.

  
-

  
When Byleth woke up from that dream, she felt dull aches on her shoulders and legs. There were remnants of bruises on her that were not there the day before.

\---

\---

Byleth found herself dreaming of the ball again. Waltz music, elegant dancing and students all around her in smart evening wear. It was a time in which she hadn't chosen the house represented by the color yellow. His house. No, she was with those in blue. Byleth knew because she remembered standing with their group of people, knights from Faerghus (although she still couldn’t remember their faces nor names clearly).

  
As she watched the stream of students pairing up and showing off their skills on the dance floor, she caught a pair of verdant eyes looking at her. He gave her a small sheepish smile when he realized that he was noticed. But that only lasted for a brief moment as he immediately waded through the crowd of students towards her. Once he was close enough, he reached out for her hand.

  
“Spare me a dance, Teach?” he asked her with a wink. Before she could give him a response, he was already leading her to the dance floor. 

_  
Typical of him _ , she mused to herself. Once he had something in mind, there was little to no stopping him.

  
When they reached the dance floor, she placed a hand on his shoulder and the other found his. He settled his free hand on her waist. Byleth glanced at the students dancing behind him, taking notes on what to do from them.

  
“I’ve never done this before,” she confessed to him. The life of a traveling mercenary never gave her the opportunity to indulge in such festivities.

  
“Yeah?” he chuckled, the signature braid he wore cascading down next to his twinkling green eyes. “I’m not a fan of these fancy ballroom dancing either, unlike the two highnesses over there.”

  
He meant the other two house leaders, the ones donning blue and red marks on their shoulders.

  
“But it’s better to indulge ourselves than standing around aimlessly, right?” He threw her another wink. They finally moved around the dance floor and he helped her ease into the steps easily.

  
“I hope you’ve settled all right at Garreg Mach,” he spoke.

  
Byleth nodded as they both swayed slowly to the tune of the music. “I did. Everyone has been very helpful and the students are attentive to my instructions.”

  
“Well, that’s only because you are an extremely captivating professor,” he grinned. That grin didn’t really reach his eyes, though. “That battlefield strategy seminar you gave all of us a couple of days ago was brilliant. I wish you had chosen our house instead of the Lions', Teach.”

  
“Didn’t really stop you from monopolizing my time every chance you get,” she replied.

  
He let out a laugh. “Well, how else am I going to have access to that mind of yours? You’re not exactly accessible to us non-lion.”

  
“You can always consult your own house teachers,” Byleth pointed out.

  
“Nah, they’re too conventional in their way of thinking. But you, I like your perspective,” he told her and Byleth felt a little jump in her pulse that she didn't really understand the cause of. “Besides, you can’t tell me that you didn’t enjoy our little tea rendezvous.”

  
She didn’t say anything to his comment and they both allowed themselves to be absorbed in the swaying of the music in silence for the next few moments.

  
“Hey, I want to try something. Follow my lead,” he said, breaking their little silence. He moved a little faster and Byleth tried her best to follow his lead. He let go of her waist and held their intertwined hands higher up above her head.

  
“Now, spin.”

  
His words took Byleth by surprise but before she could say anything back to him, he had guided her into a small twirl. When she faced him once more, he had placed his hand on her back.

  
“Just relax and follow my movement,” he whispered. He leaned forward to her and at the same time Byleth felt him gently nudging her upper body back, leaning her into a dip.

  
“Now, isn’t this much more fun?” he asked. She blinked up at him before a slight smile managed to surface on her face. He pulled her back up and Byleth immediately felt the curious stares of the students nearby. It didn’t bother her though. He did make the dance a little more interesting.

  
“I guess we both aren’t the type for elegance,” she uttered and he chuckled. They danced until the song slowed down and descended into its end. Once the melody stopped, they parted.

  
“Thank you for sparing this little deer a dance,” he said with a bow. 

  
Byleth nodded at him. “Pleasure is all mine.”

  
“All right Teach, I guess I should go now, your little lions are waiting for you.” He turned on his heels and she watched him walk back into the sea of students.

  
If they were in a time where she had chosen his house, they would have had a second dance later on in the evening. Right after they've had their little rendezvous at the Goddess Tower.

\---

\---

Sometimes, Byleth found that her dreams consisted of simple little moments that held a certain significance to her.

  
She dreamt of such a moment last night. It was with him again, the Crescent Moon Man. Byleth was sitting in a large garden, feeling exhausted after a particularly tedious meeting. With who and about what, she couldn’t remember, perhaps because the meeting itself had a lot of names and faces. Even until now, she couldn’t remember names or faces from her dreams. Except for his; the only face she could remember with clarity from that world. 

  
Unfortunately that was about it. She didn't even know his name. It was as if someone was preventing her from remembering that particular information the moment she woke up despite the fact that she could remember every other detail from these dreams like they were memories of a past life.

  
Maybe they were?

  
“Hey Teach, thought I’d find you here,” she suddenly heard his voice. Byleth turned to the voice and saw  _ him _ grinning at her. She mustered a smile at his direction. She remembered feeling so exhausted to the point where she couldn’t show him the excitement she normally had in his presence.

  
“Mind if I join you?” he asked.

  
Byleth nodded at the spot next to her. “Go ahead.” 

  
He took his place next to her on the grass. There was a moment of comfortable silence between them as they looked on at the expansive garden.

  
“I’m glad the meeting went well,” Byleth spoke. Still, there was a small nagging unease in her head that she wasn’t able to relieve. “I wasn’t sure I would be able to convince them.”

  
He turned to face her. “What are you talking about, Teach? I had no doubt that you would be able to pull it off.” He spoke with such assurance and confidence and yet Byleth found herself unable to convince her psyche that she was as reliable as he claimed.

  
“I had never been so nervous in my life." She let a second of a pause dance between them before continuing, "I was afraid I’d ruin your credibility as well by being there,” she admitted. 

  
Somehow, those words of hers surprised him quite a bit as his eyes widened at her. But then, he did something that was equally surprising for Byleth. He tugged her towards him and rested her head on his shoulder. Before Byleth could move, she felt one of his hands keeping her head in place, firm yet gentle.

  
“You could never,” she heard him say. His tone was tender and warm. “You always exceed my expectations again and again.” 

  
Byleth smiled at his words, finding herself leaning closer to him. “You think too highly of me.”

  
“It’s the truth,” she heard him chuckle. She felt his moves as soft strokes on her head, “Rest up for a bit, my friend, our job is done here. We’ll reunite with the others soon.”

  
At his words, Byleth let her eyes close and it didn’t take long for her to drift off, lulled by his comforting scent, a mix of fresh pine and musk.

  
Before she drifted off, she remembered wondering to herself when such intimate acts became a norm between them. When did these little moments of physical closeness become accepted between the two of them?

  
It was an eventuality, perhaps. No matter what paths she took in her dreams, he would be the one she felt at most ease with. He would be the one who reached out to her for who she was, the one she felt unchallenged compatibility with.

  
He was the one her unbeating heart would seek for each time.

  
Against all odds. 


	8. What Hurts The Most

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claude found Byleth at last.

_ In my dreamless world _

_ You told me I helped your dream come true _

_ But truth be told _

_ You gave me a reason to dream once more _

\---

_ It was a clear night and the stars glittered brightly against the outstretched firmament above him like a pool of diamonds in a sea of onyx. Claude was glad for that. He needed the comfort from what had been his constant pillar of support for most of his life. Particularly prior to deciding moments like this - a wage of war that will determine the future of Fodlan. _

_  
He heard a familiar pattern of footsteps headed in his direction. They were careful, not wanting to break the serenity around them. He allowed a small smile to form on his lips. Speaking of constant support. _

_  
Claude glanced sideways in the direction of the person closing in towards him, knowing exactly who he would see. _

_  
“Oh, hey there, what are you doing up at this hour?” he asked her. Byleth stopped in her tracks just a few steps away. Her curious turquoise eyes scanned him. _

_  
“I couldn’t sleep,” she sighed. “I could ask you the same question.” _

_  
Claude quirked his lips at her. “My brain’s just...busy. Thoughts keep going around and around in there, and meanwhile my eyes are wide open,” He paused, turning his focus back to the night sky. “At times like this, I like to gaze at the stars to clear my head...I’ve always been that way since I was a kid.” _

_  
Byleth followed his trail of gaze, looking up at the river of stars shining above them. “They make you feel so small, don’t they?” she commented. _

_  
At that, Claude chuckled. “Yes, that’s exactly why. Looking up at the big, starry sky makes my dreams feel small...which makes it feel like I can actually make them come true.” He shifted his attention back to Byleth. “I didn’t believe in gods when I was a kid. Maybe that’s because the night sky took their place for me.” _

_  
That information was something he didn’t plan on letting on that night. It was something he never told anybody else in the first place. Yet somehow, under the shared starry sky with her with an uncertain future looming, Claude felt it was appropriate to finally let someone in on one of his best-kept secrets. And he was glad it was her, his Teach, because there was no one in the world whom he could depend on more than her. There was no one else in the world he trusted would understand him more than her. _

_  
“What’s your dream, Claude?” she asked him with honest curiosity. He let a brief pause dance over them as he thought of the best way to respond to her. _

_  
“Hey, Teach...will you talk with me awhile?” Claude finally said. _

_  
Byleth nodded. “I’ll always lend an ear for you, you know that.” _

_  
He knew, with absolute certainty, and he took delight in that. She always did and would continue to do so in the future. That was why he trusted her so. _

_  
He looked up at the sky once more, trying to draw courage from them as he was about to unfold a part of him he had spent years guarding to one of the most important people in his life. If not the most important person. _

_  
“I bet you’ve figured this out, but I wasn’t born in Fodlan,” Claude said, hesitation coating his tone slightly. _

_  
Byleth nodded. “I had a few guesses in mind,” she turned to him with a small reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, it’s your secret to tell. I’ve never tried prying about your heritage from anyone.” _ _   
  
_ _ Claude frankly did not mind if she did, knowing that she would treat that knowledge with utmost care. In a way, he was a little surprised at himself for thinking that way and it made him realize at that moment just how much faith he had in her. _

_  
Encouraged by her response, Claude continued. “Where I come from, the people of Fodlan are looked down as cowards…”  _

_  
He found himself telling her about the years he spent being treated as an outsider thanks to his half-caste lineage. He told her of his disdain and refusal to believe the ignorant perspective the people in his homeland held over the Fodlanese, as he knew that his mother was proof that their opinions were unfounded. She was the most courageous woman he knew. _

_  
He told her of his disappointment when he found out that in Fodlan, the situation was no less different when it came to the perception of outsiders. From then on, he turned that disappointment into a life mission: to eventually break down the physical and philosophical barrier between Fodlan and his homeland. Once he'd succeeded, he aimed to take that unity widespread across the globe as far as he could, creating a world free from mindless ignorance and prejudice. _

_  
“Do you think that’s a crazy pipe dream? Or a brilliant ambition?” he asked her, realizing that she had been silent the entire time he talked. _

_  
Her eyes met his. “Can you rise to the challenge of that ambition?” _

_  
Claude shifted his gaze downwards. “Not too long ago, I would have said that it was too much for me to accomplish on my own….but that’s not how I feel anymore,” he looked up at her, “..and that’s because I have you on my side now.” _

_  
Byleth blinked, a hint of surprise falling over her features. Claude braved himself to step closer to her, stretching out his arms across the small gap between them and taking hold of her hands. _

_  
“Lately, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how I wouldn’t have made it this far without you. You and me Teach, we can go anywhere. Do anything.” He paused briefly, taking in the gentle expression Byleth was giving him. Claude felt his heart do a little somersault in his chest. “I hope that you always walk in step with me...at least until the day comes when we can look out at the peaceful world we’ve built. Together.” _

_  
“Together huh…” she said, tilting her head slightly, the corner of her eyes crinkling as her smile deepened, “sounds like a beautiful new dawn waiting for us.” _

  
Yes _ , Claude thought to himself,  _ a nd hopefully it will be a dawn we will share together for the rest of our lives.

\---

\---

“Hnng...” Claude groaned as he was nudged awake from his reverie. He raised his head and blinked several times, letting consciousness slowly seep into him as he began to get a better hold of his surroundings.

  
He was...in a room that was not his own...sitting by a desk?

  
Oh, right.

  
He was in Byleth’s room. In Remire. In her family’s house. And he was still sitting at her desk, one of her journals spread open in front of him.

  
“Mornin’,” he heard a low voice greet him. Claude turned to the direction of the voice and was met with the towering figure of Elias, an eyebrow raised. “Did you sleep here the entire night?”

  
Claude looked down at the desk in front of him. “Guess I did,” he sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Was going through some of her journal entries and I guess I fell asleep then.” He looked up at the other man. “I had a dream of her just now.”

  
“Yeah?” said Elias. Claude noticed the man’s voice contorting with an emotion he couldn’t put a finger on. It exuded a hint of sombreness, but it disappeared as soon as it surfaced. “Well, you can tell us about it later. My parents want you to have breakfast with us downstairs. You can use the bathroom in the hallway to wash up.” He crossed his arms across his chest before continuing. “Also, the hospital has a limited time-slot for non-family visitors so better be efficient with our time.”

  
Claude blinked. “Hospital?”

  
“Byleth,” Elias reminded him flatly. The single name brought back everything that Claude had momentarily forgotten of yesterday. Everything came crashing on him once more like violent waves of a storm; Byleth’s accident, Byleth’s past and the reality that he knew wasn’t actually what it seemed to be? 

  
He clenched his fists as he felt his stomach dropping...

  
Would he be ready to see her?

\---

  
Elias, Sitri and Jeralt were sitting round the dining table by the time Claude had finished making himself presentable and had made his way downstairs.

  
“Good morning,” Sitri greeted him with a smile. The two men sitting next to her turned their attention to him as she spoke. Claude scratched the back of his head, finding himself a little bashful at the attention.

  
“Good morning,” Claude nodded back. “I’m sorry, did I make you wait long?”

  
“Not at all, you came down just in time. The food has just finished cooking.” Sitri motioned for Claude to sit in the empty chair next to her and Elias. Claude took his place and sat down.

  
“Oh, wow! This all looks really good,” Claude said as he scanned the table for all the different freshly cooked breakfast placed. His stomach rumbled as their aroma hit his nose, reminding him of how he had gone without food since last night. His eyes lit up when he spotted a particularly familiar dish.

  
“Is that shredded pheasant hashbrown casserole?” Claude asked, feeling his stomach calling out for it.

  
Sitri’s face broke into a gleeful expression. “Yes, that is exactly what it is. How did you know?”

  
“Well Byleth used to -” He paused as the three other in the table threw him perplexed looks. He pursed his lips, unsure of whether he should continue his sentence.

  
“It’s okay,” Sitri said, ”Elias has told us everything so far.”

  
“Well…” Claude began again, “Byleth cooked that for us a couple of times. She told me it was one of her favorite recipes of yours and your secret in making the crunchy upper layer that covered soft and creamy filling is the ratio of milk to cheese. And she also loved your touch of -”

  
“-additional parsley,” Sitri spoke at the same time as Claude.

  
“Yeah,” Claude smiled fondly at the recollection. “She loved having it during cold winter mornings.”

  
“That’s specifically why I made this today, I thought it would be fitting,” said Sitri. “...You really did know her, didn’t you?”

  
Claude met her gaze. “Do you believe me?”

  
“I do,” Sitri nodded without any hesitation. She turned to her husband next to her. “What about you, Jer?”

  
Jeralt huffed before he lifted his eyes to look straight at Claude. “I’m inclined to believe after everything I’ve been told and seen so far.”

  
Sitri gave him a look of approval and Claude let out a sigh of relief.

  
“Anyway, now that all of that is settled,” Elias spoke, grabbing his plate and utensils in front of him, “can we eat now? I’m starving and I don’t want to leave too late for the hospital.”

  
At Elias’ lead, they all began to take turns to grab their helpings of the food. For a few moments the only sounds in the dining room were the metallic clinks of utensils against ceramic plates. 

  
“So Claude, what do you do?” Jeralt asked while Claude was in the middle of taking a serving of the casserole.

  
“Oh, I’m currently in charge of overseeing the Garreg Mach Institute project for the Leicester-Almyra division.”

  
Elias whistled at him. “Wow. Big shot. That von Riegan family name must have been pretty useful at work, huh?”

  
“Actually, I’d like to think that I got to where I am from my own efforts and little to my affiliation,” he smirked at Elias, “but it definitely made some days easier with this name in tow.”

  
Elias merely hummed at his reply.

  
“So you know Rhea?” Jeralt questioned.

  
“Yes, I do,” Claude nodded. He turned to Sitri. “She’s a Nabatea right? What’s your relation to her?”

  
Sitri smiled. “She’s Byleth and Elias’ grandmother, my mother.”

  
At that, Claude dropped the spoon he was holding and it landed on his plate with a small ‘clang’. He didn’t realize he was gaping at them until he heard a snicker coming from Elias.

  
“Wait...you’re telling me you are the direct offspring of the most powerful woman in Fodlan?”

_  
And the fact that he had a point of connection to Byleth so close to him all these time? _

  
“Pretty much,” Elias said with a shrug, “but that’s as far as our relationship gets. By and I don’t really see her much and as far as Nabatean affairs go, we are estranged from it all.

  
“They didn’t like the fact that Sitri married a poor, wandering soldier instead of a rich conglomerate that can help maintain the status of the family,” Jeralt grumbled.

  
Sitri placed a hand on Jeralt’s arm and gave him a consoling smile.

  
“Rhea and I don't have a close relationship on a personal level. I care and respect her as my mother, but we don’t have that familial bond to each other.”

  
She paused and Claude noticed a hint of downcast expression in her demeanor. 

  
“My father died when I was really young and around then the burden of maintaining the family power alone with Garreg Mach Corporation as a company had fallen to Rhea. With all the roles she needed to fulfill, she didn't really have time to adopt the role of a devoted mother. She has provided for me but she was rarely present, unfortunately.”

  
"I see," Claude muttered “Wait, does Rhea have…” he trailed off mid-question as he had difficulty finding the correct word to say.

  
“Those strange powers that Byleth and I have? No she doesn’t,” Sitri shook her head. “Not every generation nor every Nabatean woman has it. But what she does possess is a scarily sharp intuition and relentless determination.”

_  
You don’t say _ , Claude remarked silently in his head. Claude wasn’t sure why but he always had creeping chills whenever he met Rhea despite the fact that, outside of business talk, she was known to have a certain benevolent character to her person. But it never made sense to him, seeing how ruthless she could be when it came to the company affairs. And he always felt as though he had to put an extra layer of self-defence around her presence because everytime she looked at him, he thought she could read through the deep recesses of his mind. 

  
“If she does, I reckon she won’t be standing tall the way she does now at her age,” Sitri continued. “Anyway, enough about my past. I wanted to ask something of you Claude, if you don’t mind.”

  
Claude blinked at her. “If it is within my capabilities, yes, sure.”

  
“Will you tell us more of what Byleth has been up to with you the past few months?” she asked him expectantly. “Please?”

\--

Claude began by telling the Eisners of the first time he had dreamt of Byleth. He was thirteen. It came a little later for him than it did for Byleth. Afterwards, the dreams came more regularly to him and in them, she would always be present without fail.

  
He then went on to tell them of when he first met her in Garreg Mach and the events that followed from then on (of course he selected stories which were appropriate to tell). Claude recounted the time Byleth had taken him to the lake at the edge of the Remire that she frequently visits with them. Or how at Flayn’s store, she would at times choose to read her childhood fairy tales because she loved the memory of having Jeralt read the roles of the villains in his exaggerated low voice. Or Sitri singing the little hymns and lulling her to sleep. She also loved making Elias roleplay some of the stories with her - him the princess and she the prince - just for laughs.

  
Byleth held her family close to her heart. Claude loved that about her. It was a testament to how much she cherished the people she held dear, and he was honored to be among that list of people.

  
Of course Claude also admired many things about her - her generosity, her tenacity, her wisdom and with among other aspects of her. It was unbelievably easy how well their lives fit together and how much happiness her presence had brought upon his days.

  
“You really care about her, don’t you?” Sitri commented, a gentle beam on her face.

  
“I….I do,” Claude admitted. “In the dreams I had...I knew she was everything to me. And when I finally met her, it didn’t take long for her to be a very important part of my life. Fact is...even if I didn’t have those shared dreams we have, I know that if we ended up meeting, I would have still felt the same way towards her.”

  
It was, admittedly, a little daunting to disclose the full extent of his and Byleth’s relationship to her family, especially with Jeralt sitting right across the table looking as if he would reach out and smack the living daylights out of him. At least, that was what Claude assumed in his slight paranoia. In truth, there really was no way to discern what the older man was really thinking with the stoic expression he was sporting.

  
Claude tried to paint a picture of Byleth in her best moments to them, filling them in with stories where she showed excitement and moments he could remember where she would grace him with her beautiful laughter. Claude didn’t know why he felt the need to select those particular memories to tell. It was probably because of the way the Eisners looked as they listened to him talk. It was the look of someone when they were reminiscing treasured memories of a loved one who had passed - a look of fondness with layered sadness and longing. 

  
It was also a little disorienting to Claude. For the Eisners, Byleth had been absent from their lives for months, whereas it had only been a couple of days for him. In a way, he felt a sense of unfair monopoly of Byleth’s presence over the people who had raised her and supported her in her worst moments. He could tell how big of a void her absence left in their hearts. He could relate.

  
And so he tried his best to make Byleth alive to them through his memories. Even if it was for a fleeting moment, the family currently sitting with him deserved at least that much.

\---

\---

Claude stopped in his tracks just as he was about to reach the hospital’s main entrance. Elias, who was a few steps ahead of him, turned back to him with a questioning look.

  
“You OK?” he asked.

  
Claude shook his head. “There’s not enough time in the world that could prepare me for this moment.”

  
He tried. He really tried. On the ride to the hospital, in the Eisners’ pick-up truck, he had been caught up in his thoughts, mentally anticipating what he would see and how it would make him feel. It had been a silent ride, with him in the passenger seat and Elias on the steering wheel, a heavy atmosphere around them. Jeralt and Sitri had remained home as Elias and Jeralt insisted that visiting the hospital too frequently wouldn't do any good to Sitri’s condition. Especially after a severe episode three days prior.

  
Claude inhaled sharply, trying his best to swallow the edginess that dominated his body. “Okay, let’s go.”

  
He followed Elias into the hospital. The automatic door parted open for them and Claude was immediately greeted by the smell of antiseptics and beeps from announcements. All around them were patients waiting to be tended, some doctors in their white coats and nurses in their sky blue scrubs walking around .

  
Elias led them to the front desk where a nurse receptionist immediately greeted him with a look that hinted recognition.

  
“Good morning Elias, coming to see your sister today?” she asked.

  
Elias nodded. “How’s her condition now?”

  
The nurse, Camilla, a woman somewhere in her forties with soft, maternal features smiled at him. “She’s stable today. We think we’re well out of the critical situation we found ourselves in a couple of days ago.”

  
“That’s great,” Elias let out a relieved sigh. “I can’t thank you all enough for your hard work.”

  
“It’s our job,” she replied to him.

  
“I’m bringing a visitor today, is that okay?” Elias asked as he began to fill out the visitor’s form the nurse handed to him.

  
“Oh, who might this be?”

  
“This is Byleth’s fiancé, Claude.” Elias replied. Claude raised an eyebrow at Elias’ response. At the same time, Camilla had widened her eyes in his direction.

  
“I wasn’t aware your sister was engaged!”

  
“They’ve been together for a long time. They got engaged shortly before her accident and he had to be in Almyra to attend an important business these past few months. He was only able to return to Fodlan recently,” Elias explained.

  
“Oh no! You poor dear, no wonder you look a little pale,” Camilla said to Claude, shock painted on her face. He gave her a weak smile in return without saying anything else. Camilla handed him a writing pad with a form attached to it. “Please fill this out and make sure you tick ‘immediate family’ for your relations to the patient.”

  
Claude murmured a ‘thanks’ to her and filled out the form. Once they both finished, Camilla had asked them to sit and wait for someone to show them to the intensive care unit.

  
“Sorry for springing out the whole fiancé thing,” Elias told Claude, “they have a short visiting window for non-family members and I figured you might want more time than that.”

  
“It’s fine, I figured that much,” Claude nodded. “Thanks.”

  
“Don’t mention it,” Elias waved a hand at him. Silence casted over them as they waited. It wasn’t long until a man in blue scrubs approached them.

  
“Hi, Mr. Eisner and Mr. von Riegan?”  
  
  
They both muttered their affirmation.

  
“Please follow me.”

  
They both stood up and trailed after the nurse who led them to a door with ‘Intensive Care Unit’ glaring above it in red block letters. The nurse hovered his ID badge over the scanner lock by the door and it clicked as it unlocked. He pushed the door open to let them in. Claude felt a sudden weight in his chest the moment he crossed its threshold. His stomach twisted with each step he took, passing by the array of ominous white doors. The nurse stopped by a door with the number seven marked on it. There was a cart with a pair of hospital gowns and gloves placed on top of it by the door.

  
“No more than one visitor at a time in the patient’s room. You can sit in the visitor's lounge while you wait. Please sanitize your hand and then put on the gown, gloves and shoe covers before entering. There’s a slot of 30 minutes per visitor but we prefer if you keep your visit shorter,” the nurse explained to them.

  
Elias turned to Claude. “Do you mind if I go first? I won’t be long.”

  
“No, go ahead,” Claude nodded at him. He watched him put on his gown and other attires before he disappeared into the room with the nurse who guided them. Claude turned on his heels and headed to the ICU visitor’s lounge. He took his seat and tilted his head back slowly, counting his breaths in an attempt to steady his erratic heartbeat. He straightened his head back and casted his gaze downwards to his hands. There was a faint tremble in them. He closed his eyes, trying to recall a memory which would bring him a sense of calm.

  
There was only one that came to him at that moment.

\--

_ “Good morning,” Byleth said to him softly. She was lying on her side, facing him on his bed. Their shared blanket covered her up to her chest, the morning sun that filtered through his window kissed her bare shoulder and porcelain face, giving her fair skin a warm glow. _

_  
Claude stretched before turning to his side and met the gaze of his lover lying next to him. “Good morning,” he drawled, a lazy yet content smile formed on his lips. “Someone is happy this morning.” _

_  
Byleth reached out for the strands of dark hair falling over his forehead. _

_  
“Waking up next to you makes me happy,” she told him with a smile. _

_  
Claude reached out for her hand and shifted closer to her, wrapping his arm around her form and tangling his legs with hers underneath their blanket as he placed a fleeting kiss on her lips. _

_  
“Waking up next to you makes me feel complete,” Claude whispered back to her. A beam of a smile bloomed across her face and he felt her snuggle closer to him.  _

_  
“Let’s just stay like this for the entire morning,” she murmured against the crook of his neck. _

_  
“As you wish, my star,” Claude said, planting a kiss on top of her head. _

_  
They could stay like that forever and he wouldn’t mind one bit. _

  
\---

The click of the door brought Claude back from a time where everything in his life felt perfect to the reality of the dreaded ICU waiting room. He watched Elias come out of Byleth’s room, casting away the gown and gloves he had on. Claude took another deep breath and made his way to the cart by the door where the nurse was waiting for him.

  
“Good luck,” Elias nodded at him before heading to the visitor’s lounge.

  
Claude sanitized his hand and pulled on the protective gear laid out for him, all the while trying to calm his racing mind and heart. He didn't remember ever being this anxious.

  
“I was informed that the patient is your fiancé?” the nurse asked him.

  
Claude nodded.

  
“And this is your first visit?”

  
He nodded again.

  
“All right, I will just go over some guidelines for you before you enter. Physical affection such as holding her hand is allowed. In fact we encourage it because research has shown that some comatose patients are aware of their surroundings and are calmed and comforted by the presence of their loved ones. We prohibit kisses because of the germ transmission possibility. Also please refrain from sitting on the patient’s bed or touching any of the equipment.”

  
“Understood,” Claude replied.

  
“All right then,” the nurse pushed the door open for him. “Feel free to use all of your time slot, Mr. von Riegan,”

  
Claude let out a heavy exhale before stepping into the room.

\---

When Claude left Garreg Mach several days ago in search of Byleth, he expected his trip to end with Byleth in his arms once more, safe and sound. He imagined to be home at their apartment hearing her voice and laughter, peppering her with the kisses she had missed the past few days.

  
Instead of her voice and laughter, he was greeted by the beeping of machines connected to the unconscious form of Byleth lying on the bed in front of him. Instead of feeling her warm embrace, multiple needles were pricked to her arms which connected her to various drips. Instead of his lips on hers, a ventilator tube intruded her lips, extending itself deep into her mouth and airway.

  
Claude had to look away for a second the first time the sight unraveled itself to him. He almost couldn’t bear it, seeing the normally spirited Byleth he knew in such a helpless state. 

  
In retrospect, he had found who he ventured out for. The unconscious figure he was looking at was clearly Byleth. His Byleth. And with bitter realization, this moment was perhaps the first time he met Byleth outside his dreams. All of her.

  
He had to lament on what sick deity had twisted his fate with Byleth like this.

  
“Byleth...it’s me, Claude.”

  
Only the beeping of her life-support machine answered his call. The fact that he had to use the words 'life support' along with her name made the bile in his stomach rise.

  
He sighed. “What you did wasn’t cool, you know…” he began once more, “to tell me you love me and then leave me hanging like this.” He swallowed the lump forming in his throat. “Was everything that happened between us real or did I merely dream you into life?”

  
The only sound in the room apart from the steady beeping was the rise and fall of Byleth’s machine-aided breathing.

  
“Even so...I still miss you By. So much.” He reached out for her hand, his movement hesitant at first but after some consideration, he decided to carry out his action. “Although...I really don’t know what to believe right now,”

  
He gasped, his eyes widening. The moment his hand made first contact with hers, he felt an electric jolt course through his body. Suddenly, rapid successions of memories filled his head. The first time he encountered Byleth, all the way to the last moment he had with her; all of them running in his head not of his own volition. It was as if he was put in a trance and his mind was pulled into a vortex of memories by an invisible outside force.

_  
“I love you Claude...no...Khalid von Riegan,”  _ was the last thing he saw in his head before the fog in his mind cleared. He blinked at the sleeping woman in front of him, his face stupefied.

  
“What was...was that your way of telling me that everything was real?”

  
His grip tightened slightly around her frail hand. There was an obvious lack of reply but Claude found his heart less conflicted than it was a few moments ago.

  
“..All right,” he managed to chuckle, blinking away the stinging wetness forming at the corner of his eyes, “I believe you. I want them to be real as well.”

  
He sat down on the chair by her bed, his hand still holding hers tightly. “Well, since we’ve established what’s real, when you wake up - and you will wake up - we’ll continue from where we left off okay?”

  
He smiled. “We’ll continue to share our lives with each other, tell each other how much we love one another and maybe create our future together soon.”

  
He gave a short laugh. “Speaking of the future...I met your parents. I think your dad will be a little hard to convince…”

\---

Elias stared at the closed door of his sister’s hospital room before letting out a sigh. He reached for his phone in his pocket and pulled open a picture from his gallery. It was the family group picture during Byleth’s graduation.

  
“Hey, By, so I finally met the man you’ve always dreamed about. I think mom likes him. I find him all right,” he chuckled. “Dad might still need a little bit of persuasion though.”

  
He swiped a thumb over the picture.

  
“I think he can make you happy and he can protect you in ways that dad and I can’t.”

  
He turned his attention back to her door.

  
“I know I’ve been told that the chances are low, but please, try your best and come back. For us. And for him…”

\---  
  
 _What hurts the most_  
 _Was being so close_  
 _And having so much to say_  
 _And watching you walk away_  
  


_ \- What Hurts The Most, Rascal Flatts  _


	9. Interlude: Inevitable Encounters

Five years.

  
That was the amount of time that had passed since she was last awake. Allegedly. At least, that was what the random villager, who had first found her, said.

  
She didn’t believe him at first. The last memory she could remember felt like it just happened yesterday.

_  
Someone she knew transformed into a dragon-like creature. _

_  
An Imperial army invasion. _

_  
A ball of light that blitzed towards her. _

_  
Falling off a cliff. _

_  
Falling... _

  
She shuddered. Although she wasn’t sure whether it was from the recollection of falling or the fact that she was soaking wet from head to toe, her overcoat hung heavily on her back and dragged on slightly against the ground as she walked.

  
When she reached the monastery compounds, her doubts about the villager’s words dissipated immediately as she saw what she remembered was once a grand cathedral-like building surrounded by classrooms, dormitories and towering wall fortress was now reduced to an unkempt disarray of rubbles, shards of glass and weed-covered soil. 

  
There were hardly any signs of life around in a place that once housed a very lively community.

  
But Byleth made a promise five years ago to her students, the golden deers - him, that she would meet them back in the monastery in five years. And she always made a point to keep her promises. Besides, aimless and alone, she would follow any lead in hopes of meeting a familiar face. 

  
She was also worried about them. How were they? Were they all okay?

  
She easily spotted the Goddess Tower, one of the few structures of Garreg Mach that hadn’t been ravaged by time. 

  
As she climbed up its stairs, she felt her heart sink. She did not see anyone in her entire trip so far. Would there even be anyone awaiting her at the top of the tower?

  
To her surprise, there was someone before her. He was looking out at the window, the sunlight falling on him. She couldn’t see his face clearly from the brightness that contrasted the darkness she was standing in...

  
The man turned to her once he sensed her presence. His eyes widened briefly when his gaze fell on her but it was soon replaced by a smile of recognition.

  
Byleth blinked at him as she stepped towards the mysterious man, trying to place him in her memories. Those green eyes...and that smile...they felt so familiar. 

  
“You overslept, Teach! Pretty rude to keep a fella waiting like that wouldn’t you say?” he told her amicably.

  
At the sound of his voice, recognition hit Byleth like a ton of bricks. That voice and manner of speaking… 

  
“It’s you…” she muttered, awestruck. It was the neatly combed dark hair, the sharp jaws and the broad shoulders that had managed to throw her off. The version of him that she held closely in her memories was of a lankier figure than the man standing in front of her, with less defined jaws, tousled dark hair and his signature braid. The playfulness still remained in the tone of his voice but there was something different in the way he carried himself. It made him seem taller, more authoritative. The hints of exhaustion she saw in the corners of his eyes added to his age.

  
She felt his eyes lock on her, taking her presence in before letting out a light chuckle. “What’s with that surprised look, my friend?” he stepped closer to her and from their proximity Byleth could completely observe how the boy she knew transformed into the man in front of her. “You didn’t really think I’d given up on you coming back, did you?”

  
And just like that, his words managed to put her heart at ease. Of course it was him who was able to remind her that she still had a home somewhere, intangible as that home was.

  
“You’ve been waiting all these time?” she asked, surprise clear in her tone.

  
“Waiting...searching. I just knew that you would come back. You are not one to be taken down so easily and you had a promise to fulfill to all of us,” he replied.

  
A smile bloomed across her face. It somehow touched her, to know someone trusted and had faith in her so wholeheartedly. She held back the urge to reach out to him, to touch and make sure that he was real. Judging by the emotions brimming in his eyes, she thought he might be feeling the same.

  
He turned to the window, looking up at the bright morning sun shining ahead of them. “Can you feel it? A new dawn is finally here. Not just for us, though. No, for all of Fodlan.”

  
Byleth followed his gaze and let herself bask in the warmth of the sun.

  
The sun that took the form of the man standing next to her.

\---

\---

She watched him closely as he was surrounded by their friends. She watched the way he let his laughter take over his body, the sound of his guffaws loose and unrestrained. She noted the crinkle in the corners of his eyes that formed from the curve of his smile as he listened attentively to one of their friends’ anecdotes. She listened to his responses to their questions, taking delight on how honest they were.

  
Eventually their friends left, leaving the two of them in the meeting hall of their Derdriu estate. 

  
“My star, is something wrong?” he asked her, a hint of concern reflected on his face, “I noticed you were looking at me strangely a lot."

  
Byleth shook her head. She took her place next to him at the table. “It’s nothing....” her blue eyes twinkled at his verdant orbs, “I’m just thinking of how different you are now compared to when I first met you...and what you were like when we were younger.”

  
He raised an eyebrow. “I’d like to think that I’m still the exact same person,” he reached out and covered her hand with his, his finger brushing against the wedding ring around her finger that he had gifted her, “but care to elaborate?”

  
She watched their interlocked hands with fondness. “You are much more trusting and open to others now. You don’t place people on a pedestal anymore.”

  
The corner of his mouth tilted up. “I have nothing more to hide.”

  
“I know,” she nodded. “But I like seeing how genuine your smiles are now towards our friends, it seems that you are truly happy.”

  
At her comment, he brought their intertwined hands to his lips and placed a kiss on her knuckles. “I am happy now,  _ hayati _ ,” he told her in a low, husky voice “and it is all thanks to you.”

  
“Me?” Byleth asked, tilting her head at her Crescent Moon Man.

  
“Yes,” he replied. “You were the one who made me able to trust others in the first place. You supported me. You walked in step with me. You accepted me for who I am without judgment. You are my dreams coming true. Should I go on and on?” he grinned at her.

  
Byleth let out a giggle. “Funny, because that's exactly how I feel towards you.”

  
He beamed at her, his hand now moving to cradle her face. “Then it’s proof enough that we belong with each other.”

  
Byleth didn’t say anything to him. Instead, she tilted her face towards him and met his lips with hers.

  
Yes, next to him is where she would always belong.

  
Deep inside her unconsciousness was strangely the happiest she has ever been.

\---

\---

As much as Byleth tried her best, she could not remember faces or names of the people she encountered in her dreams apart from her Crescent Moon man. She knew they existed and they were important to her. And yet, try as she might, their identities would escape her the moment she opened her eyes.

  
But years of accumulated dreams had allowed her to collect some identifiers for them, mainly through the little things she could remember of their personalities and the little she could get of their appearance.

  
There were three student houses that she had to choose from when she was tasked as a professor at Garreg Mach.

  
The house of blue, or the Blue Lions, were mainly students from Faerghus. Many of them uphold a strong affinity to the ways of the knights, firm, resolute and unbreakable - like the impenetrable winter of their home.

  
There was the house of red, or The Black Eagles, a house with families of old nobility blood led by a strong-willed young empress from Enbarr. 

  
Last but not least, there was the house of yellow or The Golden Deers. She frequently dreamed of choosing this house, frequently dreamed of a life that long followed after her choice with them. Maybe because this was  _ his _ house.

  
The students of The Golden Deers did not have as many nobles or families of prestige compared to the other two houses, and perhaps it was this fact that made Byleth feel most at home with them. Their little rowdy, mismatched group felt closer to the kind of people she was accustomed to in her mercenary life.

  
Then of course, there was  _ him _ , her Crescent Moon Man, the leader of the yellow house. He was quick on the tongue and on his feet. He didn't take things at face value and would always question for the truth. Sharp-minded and inquisitive. He acted friendly towards everyone but strangely kept himself guarded. Yet with him, Byleth felt a certain ease and attraction that she did not sense with any others in her dreams.

  
Byleth didn't really understand why she also had dreams where she would choose different paths when ultimately, she and this mysterious man would be drawn to each other again and again, even when the world went against them.

  
Despite the difference of values that all of the people seemed to harbor, in the end all of them were individuals with struggling past who wanted to do their best for a bright future. They weren't all that different after all, Byleth lamented. Why couldn't they all...

  
"Why can't we all just get along?" she heard a sigh. Byleth looked across her, it was him. A tea set placed between them. He was his younger self.

  
"I mean sure...the two highnesses regard the church differently, but ultimately they only want the best for Fodlan. If only we could all sit and talk about our similarities instead of differences, I think the world would be a better place."

  
Byleth nodded at him. "I agree."

  
She saw his green eyes searching hers. "What's your opinion of the church, Teach? Are you against them just like your house leader?"

  
Byleth paused for a few seconds. She answers him once she finds an answer within herself. "I don't know much about them to support or be against them. What I do know is that I have some questions and I hope I will eventually find out the answers to them."

  
She saw his face turned into a smile, a rare one that strangely reached his eyes. "Yeah….those are my exact sentiment as well." 

  
He let out a sigh as he leaned back into his chair and folded his arms behind his head. "It's really too bad you are with the Black Eagles, Teach. If only you had chosen us the deers...well...I think we could really make some changes around here. And I think we would really work well together."

  
Byleth didn't know why she didn't choose him in that dream but deep in the recesses of her mind, she harbored a semblance of hope that her decision would lead to him later on. To a future with him that she was searching all along.


	10. One More Time One More Chance

Claude came home to a void.

  
The apartment he had years of living in suddenly felt bigger and barren without the presence of Byleth.

  
Since the hospital visit, a sudden overwhelming feeling washed over him. He needed some space to process everything and needed a place to breathe. So he excused himself shortly once he and Elias had returned to the Eisners' house. But he promised them he would visit later in the weekend, see them and to see Byleth once more. Right now, he needed to be on his own.

  
He closed the front door to his apartment and let out a huff. Loneliness could be so overwhelming. Trudging into his apartment, he scanned his eyes around the darkness of the space, the only source of light being the Night Lights of Garreg Mach filtering in through his window.

  
He could still see her in his place. He saw her huddled on the sofa immersed in some historical documentary on the TV. He saw her in his reading corner, writing on her notepad with that adorably serious expression she normally had on. He saw her in the kitchen trying out new recipes for both of them. He saw her by the viewing range, looking out at the snowfall in awe.

  
He dreaded going into his bedroom, a place where Byleth had left her presence most potently on him. He dreaded sliding into his bed to see the spot next to him void of the warmth that he cherished so much.

  
Byleth wasn't there but he saw her in every corner of his space. He saw her when he closed his eyes and dreamed. Claude wondered if this feeling of madness was how Byleth felt all her life--to see things that nobody else could see in her sleep and in her waking hours, with no way to escape.

  
Claude walked over to his kitchen, opened up his pantry and grabbed the first bottle he saw.

  
He needed something to drown out his thoughts for the rest of the night.

\---

\---

"Claude? What are you doing here already?"

  
Claude looked up from his desk to see Hilda and Lorenz standing by his office door, confusion and concern painted on their faces.

  
"You look worse for wear,” Lorenz scrunched up his nose as he and Hilda walked over to Claude, "is that alcohol I smell?"

  
"Okay, Claude, what's going on? I've never seen you so disheveled like this," Hilda remarked.

  
"I'm alert if you guys are concerned about that," Claude muttered, "and I'm here to work. Can't a fella work in his own office?"

  
"Claude? You're back already?"

  
It was Dimitri who spoke this time, Edelgard trailing next to him.

  
"Aren't you supposed to be back tomorrow?" Edelgard pointed out. She scanned his appearance and frowned, "and what happened to you? It is unlike you to be so unkempt."

  
Claude squinted at the crowd in his office. "Is my office a hang out spot while I was gone?"

  
"We have a meeting with Rhea in one hour, so we wanted to discuss your department's development with Lorenz and Hilda," Dimitri explained.

  
"Oh, I can go to that instead," Claude said. A collective "no!" was thrown at him from everyone in the room and Claude gave a quizzical look at all of them.

  
"Rhea will eat you alive if you showed up looking like that," Lorenz pointed out.

  
"You don't seem to be in the mindset to work, Claude," said Edelgard, "is everything all right?"

  
Claude met the gazes of the four others in the room who were staring at him expectantly.

  
An image of Byleth smiling fondly suddenly flashed across his mind.

_  
"You are much more trusting and open to others now, you don't place people at a pedestal anymore." _

_  
"I like seeing how genuine your smiles are now towards our friends." _

  
It could be his exhaustion talking, along with Byleth's journal entries he had read that promptly reminded him of the dreams he once had. Claude felt a sense of encouragement from the memory. It was as if Byleth was whispering those words directly in his mind, coaxing him to reach out and accept the vulnerability of the moment.

  
He let out a heavy sigh before speaking.

  
"It's my girlfriend, she got into a car accident and is in a coma now... that's the reason I took leave two days ago."

  
There was an audible gasp from Hilda and a chorus of "I'm sorrys" from Dimitri, Lorenz and Edelgard.

  
"Is there anything you'd like us to do?" asked Edelgard.

  
Claude shook his head. "I know I look like a mess right now but... I need to be here to distract my mind. I can't be at home now because everything there reminds me of her."

  
"I.. I can't imagine how you must feel right now," Dimitri condoled, " what's her current prognosis? "

  
Claude closed his eyes and gave out a loud exhale before speaking once more. "They almost lost her three days ago but she's more or less stable now."

  
"Oh, Claude," Hilda cried softly, and took hold of one of his hands, giving it a squeeze. "We're so sorry. "

  
Claude mustered a weak smile at his friends. "Anyway, if you could all let me stay and work, I'd appreciate it. I'll focus on lower-profile tasks for today while I get my thoughts together."

  
Lorenz nodded Claude. "Of course, do what you need to process."  
  
"Feel free to leave anytime you need," Edelgard added, "today is technically still your day off after all. "

  
"Yeah, we'll see what happens later," Claude replied. "Anyway, if you guys don't need me for anything else, do you mind if you give me some space for now? I just need to be alone with work for a bit."

  
Everyone nodded at Claude. They murmured their goodbyes before turning around and walking out of his office. Everyone except Hilda, who was still staring at him across his desk.

  
"Something else you need, Hil?" Claude raised an eyebrow at her.

  
Hilda shook her head. "I'm just wondering, is she the one you told us you were seeing a couple of months back?"

  
Claude blinked at the pink haired woman's question before he nodded his response at her.

  
"So you've been with her for quite a while now huh?"

  
"Yeah," Claude fixed his eyes in the general direction of his table, focusing on nothing in particular. "She's the one I've been looking for all this time. I won't let her go out of my grasp."

  
Hilda gave him a somber smile. "I hope she'll wake up soon. I'd love to meet her when she does." 

  
"I hope so too. I'm sure you all would like her."

  
The day will come when Byleth will wake up. It just had to. Because she had always found a way to come back. And Claude will spend everything he had even could make her return to him once more.

\---   
\---

Lunch break had just finished when Claude decided he would retire from the office for the day. Words of his predicament rant quickly among his colleagues and friends.

  
In retrospect, he should have gone to the office in a much more organized appearance if he wanted to avoid the prying eyes and questioning of pretty much everyone in the office. But he could only spend a few minutes in his room before he felt the need to bolt out of there, the empty side of his bedroom bearing down on his chest like a hefty weight. 

  
Not wanting to return to the loneliness of his apartment, Claude headed to the place where he knew he could talk about everything that was haunting his mind openly.

_  
Tring! Tring! _

  
"Hi, welcome to the Fables...oh Claude!" exclaimed Flayn. She knitted her eyebrows when she had a good look of Claude's disarrayed state. "Goodness, you look terrible..."

  
Claude stopped by the front counter across the petite Nabatean and brought up his exhaustion- ladened eyes to Flayn.

  
"I just came back from Remire last night. I met her family." He took a sharp breath. "I saw her. "

  
The shift in the Flayn's expression conveyed a large portion of her understanding of the situation. 

  
"I'm sorry that things turned out this way Claude," she consoled, her face tinted with sorrow. "Do you want to talk? I'm quite free now."

  
Claude nodded. "Yeah that's the reason I came. But, uh," he turned his gaze up to the second floor for a few seconds before shifting back it's attention to her, "can we talk down here? There are too many memories with her upstairs ."

  
"I understand," Flayn nodded, "just take a seat anywhere you want. I'll join you in a bit."

  
Claude headed to the array of tables. There were only less than a handful customers in the establishment as the lunch rush hour had just subsided. He chose a table that provided him a direct view outside, and watched the cars go by absent-mindedly through the window as he sat and waited for Flayn.

  
"Here you go, sorry for the wait."

  
Claude saw a cup placed in front of him, a familiar aroma of pine needles wafting from it. Claude inhaled the scent, allowing it to bring a sense of calm over him. "Thanks, but I didn't place any orders yet," he said to Flayn as she slid into the chair across from him. 

  
"It's on the house," she replied with a good-natured smile. Just a couple of days ago, Claude had thought of Flayn as an affable, kindly and generally straightforward person. But now, knowing what he knew of the Nabateans, he wondered what kind of things the young woman sitting across from him was hiding behind her smiling façade.

  
"So Claude, may I ask what you've been told so far?" Flayn spoke, breaking the pause between them.

  
"A lot," Claude answered, taking a sip of his tea, "the Eisners' history, Byleth's past," he looked at Flayn straight in her eyes. "the Nabatean family lore...the strange powers and why you were able to see her."

  
"It seems that you know quite a bit, huh?"

  
"Elias can really talk," Claude remarked with hints of amusement.

  
"I suppose you have questions of your own for me as well?" Flayn asked pointedly, leaning her face against her propped up head.

  
"Just one. And then you can tell me what you know because I don't even know where to begin with the questions. "

  
Flayn nodded and he took it as a signal to continue.

  
"Was Byleth really here the entire time?"

  
A slightly surprised expression appeared on Flayn's face at Claude's choice of question, but she immediately shook it off. 

  
"She was. If you're wondering whether you were imagining things, you did not. She was here." She gave him a reassuring smile. "The time that you have spent with her was real."

  
Claude felt a sense of relief wash over him. Deep down, that was exactly what he wanted to hear.

  
"I guess that's my cue to tell you what I know," Flayn remarked.

  
"Please do," Claude nodded.

  
"I'll start from the beginning. You see, Byleth and I have known each other and subsequently become closer only a few years ago. Before that, I hardly met the Eisners since they moved around frequently and were notoriously uninvolved in the Nabateans family affairs. The only reason why I got to know her well was because she reached out to me discreetly when she discovered that I harbored similar powers to her, and since I was older than her she wanted advice on how I'd manage living with it so far."

  
Claude spat out the tea he was in the middle of drinking. "Wait...You're older than us?"

  
Flayn gave him a lop-sided smirk. "I assume you are around Byleth's age. If so, then yes, by ten years give or take."

  
Claude observed the woman sitting across from him, expression in disbelief. This petite person who looked to be around twenty-five at most just claimed that she was actually nearing her forties. "How??" Claude gaped at her. 

  
Flayn let out a giggle. "I suppose the youthful look runs in some of us Nabateans? If you look at Rhea, you would have thought that she is in her mid-forties. She is actually sixty. "

  
That... is true.

  
"Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I was obviously devastated to hear of her accident. I paid her a visit the week after she was admitted. She was in a much worse state back then compared to what you've seen. You could probably imagine."

  
Claude clenched his jaws. No, he did not want to imagine it.

  
Flayn continued "...And it was a week later that I saw her wandering into my cafe one evening. I was so surprised!"

\---   
\---

_ "Byleth?!" Flayn called out to her, mouth gaped open. Her cousin, whom she saw last week dressed in a cast, bruises on her body and unconscious had just strutted into her cafe. Her form was free of the glaring bruises and of the tubes and wires that were connected to her.  _

_  
But she knew this wasn't her cousin in her entirety. _

_  
Because flight filtered through her form like it would through a diaphanous fabric and Flayn could see, through her, the shadows and outlines of every objectright behind Byleth. _

_  
"Flayn! Thank goodness you're here!" Byleth said, walking quickly in her direction. Flayn found herself frozen at her spot behind the counter, transfixed by the form of her supposedly comatose cousin. Thankfully it was closing time and most of the cafe's staff were already on their ways home. When the last of the staff had left, Flayn finally turned to her cousin.  _

_  
" Byleth... how..." she stammered," are you...?"  _

_  
"No, I'm not, my body is still hanging in there back in Remire," Byleth replied immediately, understanding Flayn's concern and the question that did not need to be said. _

_  
"Why are you here?" Flayn asked her.  _

_  
"...I'm not sure myself," Byleth replied, her gaze downcast. "I feel as though I was stuck in a stasis since I became unconscious. The next thing I knew, I was walking around Garreg Mach in this state." Byleth looked at her hands, the corners of her lips tilting up. "It's a funny feeling to be on the unseen side for once." _

_  
Flayn stretched out a hand towards Byleth... _

_  
...only to have it go through her, like she was reaching out for thin air. Her expression fell. "I can't touch you." _

_  
Byleth smiled at her. "I can feel you. though." _

_  
The petite woman brightened. "Really?"  _

_  
"Yeah," Byleth nodded, "it felt like a gush of warmth where your hands were." _

_  
Byleth's comment brought a smile to Flayn's face. “That's actually nice to know.” _

_  
Byleth walked over to the small tub of complimentary candies that rested on the front counter. “But watch this.” _

_  
Flayn's eyes widened as she observed Byleth picked up a candy and... actually eat it? _

_  
"Wait, so we can't touch you but you can pick things up and even eat them? How is that possible?" she asked, bewildered. _

_  
Byleth shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe whoever had put me in this state wanted to make sure I differed from the living.” _

_  
Flayn shook her head and sighed. Even though she had spent years being able to see spirits, the fact that they all differed in their interaction with the living realm will never cease to throw her off. _

_  
"And the reason you appeared here instead of Remire where your body and family are...?” Flynn asked, “Do you have any idea as to why that is?” _

_  
Byleth brought a hand to her chin, knots forming across her forehead. After a few seconds, she began to speak. “I...may have an idea as to why,” she said. “Souls often manifest in areas with connections to their greatest desires or regrets, and for me…” _

_  
Byleth looked up to Flayn, her face wistful, “there’s a wish that I’ve had for the longest time...and it all started years ago.” _

\---   
\---

“So she told me about the dreams that she had of a potential lifetime she once had...and the man in her dreams that she wished to find more than anything. She remembered when she was losing grasp of her consciousness, lying in a pool of her blood, how she lamented that she couldn’t die yet. Not when she hadn’t found...well, you.”

  
Claude’s grip tightened around the cup in his hands as a mental picture of Byleth helpless and struggling for her life flashed across his mind. He gritted his teeth. He would trade anything in his possession right now to have the power to rewind time and save her.

  
Flayn continued. “When she talked about the person she called her Crescent Moon Man, I thought it described you perfectly. I wasn’t entirely sure though. Regardless, I told her that I had a regular customer who resembled those descriptions and that he worked at Garreg Mach.” A sad smile played on Flayn’s lips. “She was so elated when I told her that, it almost broke my heart. I suggested that she wandered around the area for a chance to catch you. All she wanted was to see if you were real...she didn’t anticipate anything else considering her condition.”

  
Flynn paused, her gaze sharp on Claude. “But then something happened that neither she nor I expected.”

  
“What is it?” Claude asked.

  
“You were able to see and touch her.”

\---   
\---

_ Byleth stood frozen in her spot, a hand over her mouth, her blue irises wide in shock. _

_  
It was him. In the flesh. Walking in her direction. The Crescent Moon Man that she had been dreaming all her life was real all this time. _

_  
And yet she, herself, was not. She was merely fractions of a whole reality. With bitterness, she realized that this was how she would meet him for the first time. And if she didn’t make it alive, this would be the only way she would be connected to him. _

_  
Fate is a twisted and unpredictable orchestrator of life. _

_  
He paced closer to her, unaware of his surroundings and seemingly deep in thought. Byleth dropped her hand to her sides. She closed her eyes, still fixed in her spot which directly cut his path. If she couldn’t talk to him, couldn’t feel his touch then at the least, she could feel his presence passing through her and feel the brief wave of his warmth through her body. That would do for now. At least she was able to see him with her own two eyes at last. _

_  
She waited for the sensation to wash over her. _

_  
But… _

_  
BUMP. _

_  
Byleth felt the impact of someone hitting her instead. She staggered slightly on her feet. He had recoiled slightly as well. Byleth noticed the folder that was in his hand falling to the ground, a sudden gust of wind brought a sheet that fell out of it flying. She heard him curse under his breath. _

_  
With the quick reflexes she harbored, Byleth chased after the floating piece of paper. “I got it,” she muttered automatically. It wasn’t until she got hold of the piece of paper that the gears in her head clicked and turned. Hang on, was he able to touch her? _

_  
She turned to him. He was crouching on the ground, fixing some paper that had fallen out of the folder back into its place. _

_  
How? Byleth questioned in her head. She took slow, deliberate steps towards the dark-haired man dressed in a lightweight coat. She stopped in front of him, unsure of what to do next. _

_  
Could he hear her? _

_  
“Hey, thanks,” he stood up and shifted his focus to her at last, “and sorry about that, I wasn’t paying atten...tion…” _

_  
Byleth noticed the man’s jaw slacken, and his eyes widened, revealing more of those brilliant jade orbs of his. He looked as if he had seen a ghost of someone he knew (which, Byleth mused, was probably the case in that moment). But he wasn’t gaping out of fear. It was of surprise. He could see her, she was sure, with the way his captivating eyes were locked on hers. _

_  
It took all of Byleth’s mental willpower not to mirror his face. And perhaps the willpower of herself from her dreams just so she could stop herself from being in an absolute trance at the sight of him. He was almost exactly like the Crescent Moon Man of her dreams, the sleek combed-back dark hair, traces of a growing beard that travelled down those sharp jawlines. He even sported an earring on one of his ears. And those eyes; they are a rich, deep shade of green that she loved. _

_  
Byleth mentally shook her head, bringing herself back to reality before a looming state of trance overtake her. _

_  
“Um, here’s your paper,” Byleth managed to say. She offered the sheet in her hand to him with a smile. _

_  
“Oh, right,” the man took the paper with a slightly nervous chuckle. “Sorry again about that, I hope you’re okay.” _

_  
“Not to worry about it,” Byleth shook her head. _

_  
She couldn’t help but marvel at how his voice carried the same huskiness as the one in her dreams. _

_  
Silence fell over them for a few moments. His eyes were still fixed on her, a mixture of awe and disbelief in his face.  _

_  
Byleth felt her mind short-circuiting. She felt her pulse quickening. What should she really do at this point? Right now, she was in a complicated state of liminality. If anything should move forward between them...would it make things harder for him? _

_  
She shifted slightly in her spot, ready to turn around and leave. However, as if reading her mind, the man - in a surprisingly bold move - reached out for her wrist, holding it firm in his hand. Byleth looked up and met his eyes. _

_  
“Um...I’m sorry, may I know your name?” he asked, his eyes round and almost child-like as he looked at her. That look brought a flutter in her chest. _

_  
“I’m Byleth Eisner,” she replied, trying her best to sound as calm as she could. _

_  
“Byleth,” she heard him mutter, almost a whisper. Her name sounded like a sweet melody rolling off his tongue. She felt that fluttering sensation again. _

_  
“Hi Byleth,” he smiled, a soft smile that reached his eyes, “I’m Claude von Riegan.” _

_  
Her eyes widened as the name left his lips, a feeling of delight took over her chest as she finally found the answer to a question that’s been haunting her all her life. _

_  
Your name is Claude. _

_ \-  _

_ That night, Byleth looked up at the clear night sky as she sat down on a patch of grass in a nearby park. The city lights had overpowered the natural twinkle of the stars but to the few heavenly bodies that still managed to emit its light, she gazed up at them and hoped that they could bestow upon her a solution to her conflicted mind. _

_  
The Claude in her dreams loved the stars. Almost religiously. With no one she could really turn to right now, Byleth sought the stars above as her guiding light, praying an epiphany will come and guide her to a decision on what she should do next. _

\---   
\---

“I didn’t see her again until early morning the third day after she first showed up. She came to me, asking if I could keep the second floor free for her that evening as she would be meeting someone. That took me by surprise. I asked her who the person could be, who would be able to see her besides me...and she only gave me one of her cryptic smiles, telling me to see him for myself later.”

  
Claude and Flayn fell into a chuckle at the same time at the recollection of Byleth’s playfully secretive side.

  
“I was surprised once more to see that it was actually you!” Flynn admitted, “the fact that the person she had dreamt of was really you and the fact that you're able to see her when I know you have no such powers.”

  
Claude quirked an eyebrow at her. “How are you so sure of that?”

  
“You’ll be surprised at how frequent the unseen manifests around us. There were several instances when they did appear when you were around and your interactions with them were just like most normal people's - absolutely none.”

  
“All right,” Claude nodded at Flayn, “valid argument.”

  
Flynn continued, bringing back the conversation to the topic at hand. “Every time she talked about you, her face would light up brilliantly. I tried my best to support her with anything she needed, as she is a dear cousin of mine. Still…” Flayn paused, her expression downcast. "Sometimes it was hard to watch you two.”

  
“I noticed the way you’d look at us,” Claude pointed out..

  
“I didn’t think I hid them very well, I was always terrible at concealing how I truly feel,” Flayn admitted. “It was...painful...for lack of better words, to see you two so smitten with one another and yet you had this unfortunate circumstance upon you. Byleth, she tried her best to make sure that everything would be normal when you were around her, so that you wouldn’t be able to sense that something was truly amiss. She loved you wholeheartedly.”

  
There was a short silence that overcame them. Claude felt a tightness in his chest that expanded to his throat. There was a prickling feeling at the corner of his eyes. Byleth...she was on the brink of death and yet she still managed to think of his welfare over hers.

  
“She really considered your feelings over all of this,” Flayn started once more, as if reading his thoughts.

\---   
\---

_ Flayn slid into the empty chair across Byleth. They were the only two people in Fables’ upper floor, thanks to the low traffic hour-window of the afternoon. _

_  
“So nice of you to drop by,” she smiled at Byleth, “I think we haven’t caught up properly in a while.” _

_  
“I know, I’m sorry. I’ll try to drop by more often in the future,” Byleth said apologetically. _

_  
Flayn waved a hand at her. “Oh, you don’t have to be sorry. I know you’re enjoying your time with Claude.” She propped up her arms on the table and leaned her face against it. “How long has it been now?” _

_  
“Around three months,” Byleth replied, a corner of her mouth tilted up. _

_  
“Seems like it’s going really well,” Flayn remarked. _

_  
“Yeah,” Byleth nodded. But then Flayn noticed her expression fall slightly. “Yeah...actually that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” _

_  
Flayn furrowed her eyebrows. “Is there a problem with him?’ _

_  
Byleth shook her head. “Not at all. He’s very kind and caring, he makes me laugh and whenever we circle around things I can’t reveal yet, he’s willing to wait for me. He makes me feel at home and he’s...he’s perfect. I think I’m falling in love with him...” Byleth sighed, “and that’s the issue.” _

_  
Flayn tilted her head slightly, a questioning look on her face. _

_  
“Am I being selfish for doing this Flayn?” Byleth asked in a low voice, “I’ve wanted to meet him my whole life and he was everything I had hoped. He told me he had shared the same dreams that I had and that he had been searching for me as well…” _

_  
Flayn reached out across the table between then and placed her hands over Byleth’s, giving them a comforting squeeze. There was a vulnerability in Byleth’s voice that seemed to call out for a shoulder to lean on. _

_  
“He made me so terribly happy but I can’t help asking the question once in a while...what will happen if I don’t make it? What if I disappear? How long will I last in this form? My biggest fear now is finding myself disappearing from him and I..I don’t want to hurt him Flayn.” _

_  
Flayn did not miss the crack in Byleth’s voice nor the way her eyes became glassy as she spoke. She grasped Byleth’s hands tighter in hers. _

_  
“Byleth, I do not think you are selfish for wanting to be with the person you’re meant to be with.” Flayn reached for the other woman’s face and wiped the hint of tears that emerged in the corner of her eye. “I think that’s what being in love is...to risk the pain for the happiness you can’t attain from anyone else. And to me, it seems that regardless of the circumstances, you and Claude are meant to be with each other, even in different lifetimes.” _

_  
Byleth blinked at her. “So you believe that my dreams are of a possible past I once had?” _

_  
“It’s a possibility,” Flayn replied. “And you should know from being a Nabatean that anything is a possibility.” _

_  
Byleth chuckled at her remark. _

_  
“Have you thought about telling him the truth?” _

_  
Byleth nodded. “I have but I think it will make things unnecessarily complicated for him. I will wait until it’s inevitable for me to tell.” _

_  
“All right,” Flayn replied. “You’re a good judge of the situation Byleth. I trust you know what to do best.” _

_  
“Honestly Flayn, for once, I don’t,” Byleth sighed dejectedly, “so I’m going with a decision that will leave me with the least amount of regret.” _

\---   
\---

"She has nothing to be sorry for," Claude lamented, his knuckles taut around the small cup in his hands once more. "If I had known she was real, I know I would have gone to any corner of the world to search for her, regardless how long it would take or what state she was in."

  
"I'm glad to hear that," Flayn said, her shoulders visibly more relaxed than before, "I also hope you don't harbor any ill feelings towards her for withholding the truth from you, you have to understand how complicated the position she was in was."

  
“I’m not,” Claude reassured her, “I’m only mad that she and I didn’t meet each other earlier, considering how we shared circles.”

  
“I know, I’m sorry about that too,” Flayn remarked. “Fate can be a little cruel sometimes.”

  
Claude scoffed. “I’d like to show fate a good beating right now.”

  
Flayn gave a small chuckle at Claude’s words. “Claude, I want you to know something as well…” she then continued, a little more serious.

  
“Yeah?” Claude replied.

  
“Byleth had told me once that she knew you would be able to do great things if only you had the courage to embrace the secret she thought you've been hiding all these time.”

  
Claude inhaled sharply. Had Byleth known all along? He had one secret that he had not told her. Not because he didn’t want her to know. The topic never really came up and revealing the secret also involved disclosing the real identities of others close to him, ones that he knew the Riegan family tried to keep a low profile of. Before Claude could reply, Flayn continued to speak.

  
“I don’t know what she meant in particular but Claude, for her sake, please try your best going forward. Because Byleth would have wanted to see all that you are capable of achieving.”

  
“Would have?” Claude asked with an eyebrow raised, “why are you speaking as if she would never wake up?”

  
It was hard to miss the crestfallen shift on Flayn’s face. “Elias didn’t tell you?”

  
Claude frowned and shook his head.

  
“Claude, there’s a huge chance that Byleth will not survive.”

\---   
\---

The sun had begun to set when Claude reached his empty apartment, painting his space in a dim golden-orange hue. He trudged over to his living room and slumped into his sofa, staring blankly out of the window. It was one of the most lively hours of the day as streams of people began to head their way home or whatever plans they had for the end of the day.

  
The liveliness of the hour was a stark contrast to the hollowness Claude felt inside. How was one supposed to feel when they had the perfect person for them and discovered that they had to say goodbye so soon? He felt all the energy and motivation in him being drained by an outside force.

  
Byleth...Byleth wouldn’t make it?

  
Claude closed his eyes.

_  
“Whether it’s the past or two thousand years from now, you will be the one I look for. You are my home and my heart.” _

  
Claude opened his eyes once more and immediately straightened in his seat.

  
No. This was not the end for both of them. Even when she was close to death, Byleth did not give up on finding him. He wouldn’t lose faith in her coming back to him. Because they were each other’s destined and they would find each other, over and over again. It was something he was sure of. Even in his dreams. 

  
Byleth had done all she could. It was up to him now to try his best to make her return to him.

  
Claude took out his phone and dialled a number for a video call.

_  
Ring! Ring! _

  
The person on the other line picked up after the third ring.

  
“Hello, Khalid!” came the booming voice from the receiver.

  
“Hi Baba,” Claude gave his father a weak smile. “Hope I’m not catching you at a bad time.”

  
“You called at the right time. I just finished a meeting with Foreign Affairs Minister.”

Claude recognized the office chair he was sitting on and the rows of books laid out neatly behind him. After all, he had spent a bit of his childhood playing with his half-siblings in the Emiri office.

  
“Baba, I want to discuss and ask something from you,” Claude said.

  
“Yes, go ahead.”

  
Claude took a deep breath before continuing. “I’ve mulled over this for a while. I was thinking of having the Emiri office sponsor a residency curriculum for the Leicester Institute, as well as some financial aid.”

  
On Claude's screen, Ehab leaned back in his chair and brought a hand to his chin. “It’s possible, but you know that will require a member of the Emir clan to be there and oversee the cash flow as well as be a representative for us in Fodlan.”

  
“I know,” Claude nodded. “I’m ready for that.”

  
“We will have to talk with your mother about this beforehand,” Ehab added.

“Of course,” said Claude, “I have to discuss this with Rhea as well.”

  
“Okay,” Ehab smiled. “I’m glad to know you’re taking an initiative for a larger role.”

  
“It just happens to align with a personal aspiration of mine,” Claude shrugged. “I also want to ask something else.”

  
“ _ Yall _ a,” Ehab nodded.

  
“Is it possible to fly over some of the royal doctors to Fodlan this weekend?”

  
Ehab straightened at Claude’s request, his brows knitted in worry. “Are you okay son?”

  
“Yeah I am,” Claude assured him. He bit his lip for a second, thinking about how to proceed. “You remember the dreams I have? And how when I was thirteen that mystic you had me see told us that the woman I dreamt of was my destined?”

  
“Yes,” Ehab replied without missing a beat.

  
“Well...I found her Baba, a couple of months ago.” He clenched his hands into tight fists. “...but she may not be in this world for long.”

\---   
\---

_ The trembling in his core had changed from that of fear and dread to excitement, anticipation and relief. _

_ There, in front of his eyes he saw, from nothingness, a flash of light. It split open, cleaved by the top of a sword he knew well. A sword which, along with its wielder, Claude had kept his eyes on for the longest time. Out of curiosity and out of want. _

_ From the gap of the lights emerged Teach. His Teach. She walked out of nothingness and transformed darkness into light like an omnipotent being. But there was something different about her. Claude blinked. Did her hair and eyes change color? _

_ “Teach...you are Teach right?” Claude found himself asking. She turned to him briefly, mint rose to meet him. She gave him a nod. The corners of his lips quirked up.”I always believed in you...I knew you could cut your way out of anything.” _

_ He watched her slice through the beastly creatures near her. Claude found himself unable to look away from her, the graceful almost dance-like movements of hers as she wielded her sword had him fixed in a trance. She never ceased to amaze him. _

_ And it was that moment that Claude realized, after he felt the utter dread at seeing her disappear from his eyes, that he cared for her for more than just her swords and powers. _

_ He cared for her wholeheartedly and he wanted her to be by his side. _

\---

\---

_I am always searching somewhere for you_   
_Opposite of the house, the other side of the alley's window_   
_Even though I know you won't be here_   
_If my wish is to be granted, please bring me to you right now_   
_Betting and embracing everything_

_-One More Time, One More Chance , Yamazaki Masayoshi_


	11. Interlude: The Goddess' Rite of Rebirth

Byleth felt two small forces barrelling towards her.

  
“Oof,” she grunted from the impact, yet despite that a grin broke out on her face. She casted her gaze down to her mysterious attackers. Two small figures were holding tightly onto her legs, stopping her in her tracks. She crouched down so she was at eye-level with them.

  
They were two boys of the same age. Twins. They both sported the same thick short hair, one dark with a hint of brown, the other dark blue, a little darker than what her hair used to look like before it changed color. The boy with the dark brown hair had a fairer complexion than his brother. Byleth couldn’t remember how their faces looked like but she knew that there was nothing more beautiful than the two boys in front of her.

  
“Did you two grow stronger in the four days I was gone?” she asked them both, ruffling their silky hair gently.

  
“Yes!” the boy with dark blue hair exclaimed energetically. “I beat him in arm wrestling yesterday.”

  
“Nu uh!” The other boy replied, “he cheated, I should have won!”

  
“No, I’m stronger than you!”

  
“I am!”

  
“No, I am!”

  
Byleth sighed as she watched the argument unfold between the two. “I miss you boys too,” she muttered to them with a soft smile.

  
“All right you two, your mother just got back from a long trip. That’s no way to greet her.”

  
Byleth perked up at the voice. She saw him walk towards them, dressed in black and gold, sporting the familiar combed-back dark hair that began to show hints of silver strands. He had a full beard instead of his past chinstrap and there were wrinkles beginning to form under the curve of his eyes and around his mouth. Despite that, Byleth still thought of him as the most dashing man on earth. If possible, he looked even better now than he did when he was younger.

  
Byleth stood up as he approached her. His hand travelled to the small of her back, pulling her to him and placing a peck on her lips. “Welcome home my star.”

  
“Yuck! Baba don’t be gross,” one of the boys groaned.

  
“Hey, you two are not the only ones who missed her,” Claude retorted.

  
Byleth let out a giggle. “Okay, my two strong heroes, if you can help carry my bag inside, you can have the sweets from Fodlan that I brought for you.”

  
“Yes mama!” the two boys chorused. They both scurried over to the small bag on the floor and took a handle each, heaving it up at the same time and then brought it into their Almyran palace. Byleth watched them walk away fondly, a feeling something akin to pride swelling in her chest as she took note of the two boys’ growth.

  
She felt the man next to her lean his face against the side of her head.   
  
  
“I don’t know how you do it, they’re getting more and more mischievous by the day,” he grumbled into her hair.

  
Byleth scoffed. “The apples didn’t really fall too far from the tree,” she murmured to him pointedly. “Also, it helps that I have the Sword of Creator on my side to help me get my points across.”

  
“Ah,” Claude chuckled, "so that’s your secret. I guess Failnaught isn't enough of a threat for them to eat their vegetables and go to bed on time.” 

  
Byleth chortled at his remark. She spun around to face him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

  
“We might be needed in Fodlan for the next month,” she told him.

  
He frowned at her. “Is there new trouble brewing?”

  
Byleth shook her head. “Just several diplomatic issues that needed our take to resolve.” 

  
“Ah okay,” he nodded, “I’ll arrange something ahead of time.”

  
Byleth smiled at him, grazing her right hand against her lover’s beard, a habit she developed since he decided to let his hair grow out.

  
“We really did miss you,” he grasped her wandering hand and placed a kiss onto her palm. “I’m glad you returned safely.”

  
“I missed you all too,” Byleth replied, “all I could think about outside of my meetings was returning to you and the boys. Quiet and peace feels so strange to me now.”

  
Claude chuckled at her. “Can’t get rid of us even if you tried.”

  
“No,” Byleth shook her head, “you three are ingrained within my heart for eternity.”

\---  
\---

_Knock knock._

  
Byleth turned to her window where the knocking sound had come from. She stood up from her study and headed to the source, her pulse quickening in anticipation knowing who exactly was behind the noise. She unfastened the lock of the wooden panels and it immediately busted open without prompting. A flurry of golden, brown and yellow tumbled in.

  
Byleth stifled laughter that threatened to come out of her with a hand.

  
The object, or rather, the person that managed to break into her window, the window to the private chambers to the Archbishop of Fodlan nonetheless, uncurled himself from the ground and stood up.

  
“Gah, took you long enough! Any later I might have just become an Almyran popsicle. Or the guards would have eaten me alive.”

  
Byleth laughed. “I thought you would come from the front door. Like a normal person would. The distraction for the guards were discussed, after all.”

  
He shrugged. “Change of plans, I thought coming from the window would be more dramatic and romantic. It's been two months since we were able to spend time with each other.” The dark-haired man stretched his arms open to her, “now come here, I need an extra layer of warmth to ward off Fhirdiad’s brutal winter.”

  
Byleth didn’t need to be told twice. She immediately ran into his welcoming arms, burying herself in his chest and allowed herself to drown in his scent that she has been missing for the past months. She exhaled loudly and relaxed into his hold.

_  
Finally._

  
"Hey," Byleth heard him murmur into her hair, "are you all right?"

  
Byleth blinked at him. "Yes, why?"

  
"I noticed you were a little quiet and stiff during the meeting. Like something was weighing on your mind."

  
Byleth stared at the man before a gentle smile formed on her face. "You can always see through me, can't you?"

  
He smirked. "That's why I'm the one in here with you and no one else." He grazed her face with his finger. "Tell me, what's in your mind?"

  
Byleth sighed and pushed herself off from his chest. "At times, this Archbishop role gets to me."

  
She paused, trying to collect her thoughts. He let her do so, giving her back soothing strokes all the while. "It's the way people look at me. They look at me expectantly like the mere sight of me will grant their prayers. They place me on a ridiculously high pedestal that I feel alien under their gazes. Then there are others who hate the religion so much that they look at me with disgust."

  
Byleth curled her fingers into his shirt. "It makes my skin crawl, all these stares I receive and it makes me question my existence. Am I here or am I merely a puppet for the rest of my life? "

  
"Hey, no, stop," he cut her off, pulling her against him once more and hugging her tight. "You are you. You were a mercenary. You love your father more than anything. You love to fish. You cherish the people around you a lot. You are smart, strong and kind…"

  
He cupped her chin and tilted her face to him. "You are not the Archbishop. You are whoever you want to be and whatever role you want to take...I will always love you regardless. Because you are the one I see, the you I’ve come to know and love and not the you that everyone sees right now."

  
Byleth felt tears forming at the edge of her eyes. It was the way he was looking at her, honest, raw and without ulterior motives. Instead of finding her to lean on, those eyes were inviting her to lean on him, to unleash the weight she couldn't unload onto anyone else in Fodlan, for it was she who carried everyone else's burden.

  
She moved towards him and crashed her lips against his, feeling her body move on her own, propelled by the waves emotions within her, finding salvation in the warmth of his lips. She pulled back momentarily just when he began to respond to her action.

  
"Make me feel human again," she whispered to him, eyes hooded with the desire brimming in her core.

  
His jade eyes darkened before he leaned down and captured her lips in a heated kiss, his hands working to pull down the white dress that hugged her figure as they both moved and fell onto her bed.

  
They spent the entire night making love - tangled limbs, passionate kisses and touches that ignited the ember of lust inside both of them. He whispered tender words in her ears as he moved inside her, filling her up and allowing her to feel, erasing the hollowness that she had to live with daily.

  
They would make love as if it was their last night together each time. And perhaps, at some point it would be. Neither of them knew when they would be able to see each other next and neither of them were in a position to openly declare their relationship to the world. She was the Archbishop of Fodlan's religion, a figure of holiness and purity and one that is beyond touch of any human, someone who brought along order once more to Fodlan along with the King of Fodlan who ruled in Fhirdiad. 

  
Claude was the ruler of Almyra, a neighboring country that Fodlan had just begun to repair diplomatic ties with. Someone so far estranged from the religion she was made to represent.

  
In an ideal lifetime, they would have been together, free to succumb to their love for each other.

  
But in this lifetime, they could only find real happiness behind closed doors.

\---  
\---

Three different houses. Three different outcomes. Three chances.

  
Three different lifetimes where she heard him say that he would not let her go.

  
If Byleth had chosen to teach the house of the blue, her interest in him would have been piqued by the tea times and rendezvous outside class hours. Admittedly, it was his unrelenting persistence to filch her time whenever he could which managed to catch her attention at first. Many common interests shared later and she soon found an easiness and comfort in him that she couldn’t find in anybody else.

  
It wasn’t until she had saved his troops in Derdriu years after that she realized how much faith and trust he had in her, strategizing his army around the belief that she would come to their aid with her friends.

  
And it wasn’t until she and the lions had claimed victory over Fodlan and Byleth assumed the position of an Archbishop that she met him once more, a year after she last saw him. He introduced himself as the newly-crowned King of Almyra and he wanted to create a better relationship between the two previously warring nations. In this endeavor he made frequent diplomatic trips to Fodlan. Too frequent, in fact.

  
It didn’t take Byleth long to realize that the political trips were a mere guise. He came to Fodlan to see her. And she always looked forward to his visits. After official meetings, he would always ask for her time. For his first few visits they would talk and catch up on the time they had missed. Letters were exchanged in-between visits.

  
“I can’t seem to let you go,” he admitted, a little bashful. After that, they both braved themselves to indulge in physical touches, giving in to the tenderness they harbored for the other. And their meetings that often took place in the general domains of Fhirdiad palace soon shifted to her room where they were free to be together however they wanted, exploring and discovering each other in new ways. And in the occasional moments when she visited Almyra instead, she would dedicate a day just for him. They would often find themselves in his room, tangled limbs, disheveled and content.

  
Only their closest friends were aware of the true nature of their relationship and thankfully they were generally understanding and accommodating in their endeavors to be with one another. Because they all knew the kind of future that Byleth and her Crescent Moon Man desired was difficult to realize in that lifetime, almost unattainable. But despite that...

  
“There’s no way I will let you go, you know that don’t you?” he told her one day, his arm around her bare torso as they both laid down on the crumpled sheets of her bed.

  
She knew. Because she felt the same way. And if behind closed doors was what it took for her to be with him, then it was a sacrifice Byleth was willing to make.

\---

If Byleth had chosen to be the professor at the house of yellow, his house, they would fall into an easy and trusting relationship early on with the classes they shared, the training they held together, the battles that they went through together.

  
It was inevitable that Byleth began to notice how she regarded him differently than she would others. She found it easier to smile around him, easier to grasp and display emotions that she learned from being around him so frequently.

  
He welcomed her back with open arms after her five year disappearance, admitted to her that he always believed that she would come back. That unshakable faith he had in her touched her to the core.

  
In the throes of a difficult war, he and Byleth found solace in each other's presence--in the late night hours they spent talking and gazing up at the night sky together, in the way they would prolong their walk together back to their respective tents, in the way their eyes would linger on each other longer than necessary when they caught each other’s gazes across the room.

  
Byleth could place a guess on what was lingering between them. And if she didn't, the hugs, their intertwined hands, the closeness that they both shared in private away from everyone’s prying eyes spoke enough for both of them. Little pieces of heaven in a hellish situation. Neither of them had yet verbalized what lied in the recesses of their minds. Not yet, not when an uncertain future was still looming over them. It was a silent understanding that they both shared. 

  
Fortunately, fate had been on their side. They were victorious over their enemies, a large obstacle obliterated in their conquest of creating a world of peace and equality.

  
“There’s no way I’m gonna let you go, you know that don’t you?” he had told her, the day after their victory. He had wanted to see a whole new world they created with her by his side. He had given her a ring, the shining jade on it heavy with promises. He had told her he loved her with everything he was. She'd managed to whisper the same words back to him. And then he'd left her, to finish attaining his half of their goal on the other side of Fodlan’s border. She remained and had taken up her role as the new ruler of Fodlan, completing the other half of their shared dream.

  
He returned to her not long after, fulfilling his promise to her and to their dreams. Their union brought about a new age of unity, just like they both had hoped. 

  
Byleth had two children with him, two twin boys. She lived as a queen, as a wife, as a mother, as a warrior and as herself. She was happy.

  
In hindsight, she realized that that was what she truly wanted all along. To find real happiness. And he was the one to be able to make that dream come true for her.

  
It was perfect.

\---

If she had chosen the house of red, the black eagles, he and Byleth would have developed a comfortable yet meaningful and trusting relationship. She would still regard him a little differently than the others, with him managing to catch her attention once more with his persistence, wits and boyish charm.

  
He harbored the same faith in her.

  
Except this time, she had broken his trust.

  
"I see...right until the very end, I've read this whole thing terribly wrong…" he managed to gasp out weakly, a trail of blood dripping out of the corner of his mouth.

  
Her sword was buried deep in his chest.

  
She caught him as he fell to the ground and cradled him on her lap as he was fighting for his last few breaths. His fate was inevitable. If she didn't do this to him, others would have come after his life with little regard to his dignity. She saw it already. At the least, she could provide him with some solace in his last few moments.

  
She felt warm trickles of water falling off her face from her eyes.

  
"Or...maybe," he coughed, "not the entire thing."

  
"Don't speak," she chided him softly.

  
"You didn't have a choice did you..?"

  
Byleth shook her head.

  
He let out a weak chuckle and stretched out a trembling hand to her. She caught his hand mid-way and guided it to the side of her face.

  
"I didn't regret...placing my hopes on you," he said. "I'll watch you...change the world from the other side." He coughed once more, his voice getting raspier and weaker, "there's no way I will ever...let you...go....."

  
His hand went limp and dropped, his breath stilled. Byleth allowed herself to wail into his motionless figure for a few minutes while no one was around to see her. She collected herself not long after, the facade void of emotions painted on her face as she returned and assumed her role as an army general.

  
Much later after, she rediscovered her heartbeat. And with a beating heart, she found that emotions were magnified, imbued greatly within her. The memory of his death weighed heavily in her chest and pierced into her soul ruthlessly.

  
"There's no way I will ever let you go."

  
His last words had stuck with her.

_  
If you're up there, then watch me_ , she said in her head as she stood up high in the balcony of Enbarr's palace, looking over the city as it was being rebuilt. _I'll build the kind of world you would have been proud to live in. I won't let your death be in vain._

  
And she could hear the quieter part of her mind speak in the back of her head.

_  
...and I won't let go of you either._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you find yourself a little confused in regards to the timelines of the interludes so far, that was on purpose. And hopefully it got cleared up a little at the end of this chapter. And it will be explained further in the upcoming chapters. This is the end of the interludes, I promise ahaha.


	12. Everytime

The front door of the Eisners' house clicked open and Claude was met with Sitri's smiling face.

  
"Claude! Good morning, you came earlier than we expected."

  
"Good morning," Claude greeted in return, scratching the back of his head. "Yes, sorry about that, I could only come by for today. I hope I didn't drop by at a bad time." 

  
Sitri shook her head. "Not at all, we just finished breakfast. Please come in. Did you have something to eat yet?"

  
"I did actually," Claude nodded. He saw Jeralt walking towards them from the corners of his eyes . 

  
"Morning," the man nodded at Claude.

  
"Good morning sir, I hope you're well today," Claude greeted him, straightening up a little more in Jeralt's presence.

  
"I've had better days," the older man grunted. Claude gave a polite chuckle at his remark.

  
"Anyway," Claude began, "I hope you don't mind but I brought some people with me that I want you all to meet."

  
"Oh?" Jeralt raised an eyebrow at him. "Who are they?"

  
Claude turned around and called out for them to come over in his native tongue, prompting curious blinks from Sitri and Jeralt. A few seconds later, a man and a woman approached them. Both of them sported dark hair and tanned complexions. They both appeared to be middle-aged, although the woman seemed to have a few years over the man. They both donned smart casual outfits and there was a certain sharpness in their eyes despite the amicable smiles they gave the Eisners.

  
“These are Dr. Amal Haddad and Dr. Rami Mikhail. They are the most established neurosurgeon and cardiologist in Almyra.” Claude met the bewildered gazes of the Eisners with a reassuring smile. “They are here to check on Byleth’s condition. And yours, if you would allow Mrs. Eisner,” he nodded at Sitri.

  
Sitri and Jeralt merely stared back at Claude and the two doctors behind him in silence.

  
“Hang on, who did you say they were again?”

  
It was Elias who asked, popping up behind Sitri and Jeralt, his phone in hand.

  
“Dr. Amal Haddad and Dr. Rami Mikhail," the woman answered, her words coated with a slight accent.

  
Elias knitted his brows, his eyes focused on his phone screen, "As in  _ the _ Amal Haddad, head of Almyra's Emiri doctors and Rami Mikhail who is also a member of the board?" he looked up at Claude with a mixture of surprise and disbelief, "the doctors who serve Almyra's royal family primarily?"

  
Claude felt the gazes of everyone boring into him: curious and questioning from the Eisners, and quiet amusement from the two doctors with him. He sighed. "Can we talk inside? I'll explain everything."

\---

"Here you go," Sitri said with a smile, placing the third cup of tea on the house's coffee table, "sorry we don't have much to offer you."

  
"Not to worry, this is already very generous of you," the man, Rami, replied amicably.

  
They were all gathered in the Eisners' living area, Claude sitting on the couch with Amal and Rami next to him, Sitri on the armchair. Jeralt and Elias each pulled a chair over from their dining table to make a seat for themselves in the area.

  
There was a brief silence among them and Claude sensed every person in the room looking at him expectantly.

  
He scratched the side of his face. "I guess I'll start now.."

  
"Please do," Jeralt muttered pointedly. 

  
"Right, so…" Claude cleared his throat, "Oswald von Riegan was my grandfather. He has two children, my uncle Godfrey who is the current Leicester First Minister and then Tiana...my mother."

  
He paused for a few seconds, trying to put together the next words that would come out of his mouth.

  
“You can find all kinds of information on Oswald and Godfrey but there’s hardly any information on my mother...for a specific reason. My mother..,she’s a strong-willed and determined woman. She knows what she wants and she will strive to achieve it. And well, one of the things she apparently wanted was to be with a man whom she loves from the other side of Fodlan's border. That man’s name was Ehab Al Sayegh..”

  
“Or more commonly known as His Majesty the current Emir of Almyra,” Amal added from next to Claude.

  
Sitri, Jeralt and Elias simultaneously looked at Claude, evidently with stunned expressions.

  
“Wait..that means...you’re the crown prince of Almyra?!” Elias pointed in Claude’s direction.

  
Claude chuckled. “Yes, well, one of them anyway.” He took a sip of his tea before starting once more. “The reason why Tiana was not so well known in Fodlan is because my grandfather and the entire von Riegan family did not approve of her decision.”

  
“Why?” Jeralt raised an eyebrow at him. “I imagined it would be any aristocrat's dream to be related to a king, and it's a political vantage as well between Fodlan and Almyra."

  
"That is all true," Claude nodded, "but they were against her marriage for the sole reason that she would be his third wife."

  
"Oh, what happened to the first two?" Sitri asked.

  
"Nothing. He was still married to the first two,” Claude answered to the baffled faces of the Eisners. “Well, his first wife had just passed away recently due to chronic illness so right now there is only his second wife and my mother.”

  
“Hold on,” Elias said, a slightly scandalized look on him which was also mirrored on Jeralt and Sitri, “I am not aware that King Ehab has two other wives?!”

  
“He does, but his first wife was the most renowned in Almyra, and outside of Almyra people are only aware of her as his wife.” Claude took in the Eisners’ bewildered expressions. “Gramps took offense that she would be a third wife and was concerned of the public’s reception and speculations behind her decision. I suppose there’s some truth to his fears.”

  
“It is an uncommon practice here, its legality is also ambiguous,” Jeralt pointed out, “and stories of polygamies that made it to the news were never in positive light.”

  
“Which is a stark contrast to Almyra, the practice is legal and quite common,” Claude replied, “although it’s mainly done by the wealthier population because they’re the ones who can maintain and support multiple spouses fairly.”

  
“Many think this practice in Almyra was because we have a history of unhinged lust upon women which is simply not true,” Rami informed in addition. “This actually started back during the great war against Fodlan when many Almyran soldiers fell, leaving many of their women and children behind. As such, those who were unable to fend for themselves due to whatever circumstances were taken care of and provided to by means of marriage. Or adoption.”

  
Claude blinked at the cardiologist. Well, he did not know  _ that _ . 

  
“Thank you for the explanation, Dr. Rami,” Claude nodded at the man. “Anyway, my mother ended up eloping with my father and the von Riegan family was adamant to keep any information regarding that, or her on the down low.” He gave a chuckle. “My mother would always argue that there were men out there with one wife who treated them worse than how my father would treat his three wives and that he made her happy. But it never got through my grandfather. She has to keep an extremely low profile on the occasions she would visit Fodlan and as for me, I have to resort to subterfuge when it comes to my Almyran lineage in my years here.”

  
“Why did you end up in Fodlan then?” Jeralt asked him, “considering your heritage, you would probably have an easier time in Almyra ascending to a position of power correct?”   
  
  
Claude shook his head. “That is actually far from the truth. Because of my heritage as half-Fodlanese, I’m pretty much last in line to gain trust of power within the royal family. Everything I do, I have to rely on my own capabilities, which is fine by me. I came to Fodlan because I want to know more about my other lineage and...well,” he threw a furtive glance to the two doctors seated next to him, “I was also hoping I might find Byleth by coming here.”

  
At his words, he noticed the doleful turn of the Eisners’ faces.

  
“When I first saw her in my dreams at thirteen years of age, I knew she wasn’t Almyran since no one in Almyra looked like her. So, when I decided to come to Fodlan for university, a part of me hoped that I might also find her here...in Fodlan.” Claude admitted slowly. There was no response from the Eisners and the room fell into a heavy silence.  
  
  
“Ahem.” The voice came from Amal, piercing the thick atmosphere of the room. “Since we are on the topic of Ms. Byleth Eisner, I do want to remind you, Your Highness, that our time in Fodlan is limited,” she turned to the Eisners with a smile, “so if possible, can you inform me of her current prognosis? Much better if I could see her directly and examine her.”

\--- 

\---

“Hey, By,” Claude muttered, his hand curled around her pale, dainty fingers.

  
Only the beeping of her life support machine and the rise and fall of her chest answered his call.

  
“I’m here again,” he said, tracing the side of her face so carefully like she would shatter at a mere touch. “You know if I could I would come by every day and be by your side as much as I possibly can.”

  
His eyes scanned over her sleeping form, taking in the frail serenity that was on her face. He thought she looked a little healthier today. There was more glow and color in her skin. Or maybe that was his wishful thinking forming tricks on his eyes, letting him see what he wanted to see.

  
“I hope Dr.Amal wasn’t being too rough with you just now, but she's the best in her field in Almyra and Almyra is among one of the most advanced in terms of medical research and technology. Actually, Dr. Amal is one of the best in her field across the globe so you're in good hands." 

  
He gave her hand a light squeeze. "I met Flayn a couple of days ago. She told me a little more of what you've gone through that I wasn't aware of...You're so strong, you know that? You're also so caring and generous, I don't know what I did to ever deserve you."

  
His eyes dropped slightly, and a wistful smile played across his lips. "And you have absolutely nothing to feel sorry about. I'm so glad that you appeared before me. I wouldn't trade the happiness that we shared the past few months for anything. And I know we'll be together once more because we are destined for each other. You've done all you could to reach me so now it's my turn to try and give my all for you. Hopefully when you wake up, you'll also see the version of me you'll be proud of."

  
He paused, feeling his throat tightening as his gaze lingered over Byleth's unconscious form once more. It did not feel any less painful than when he'd seen this sight the first time. "I have to go now. I can't stay long today. I'll be back as soon as I'm given the green light after your new treatment."

  
He gave her hand another squeeze as he stood up from his chair by her bedside. "I love you By...and I will never let go of you."

  
He let go of his hold over her hand regardless; necessity deemed it. He allowed himself one last glance of her before turning around and leaving her room. Once he had casted away the protective gears on him, Claude headed to the ICU waiting room where Jeralt was sitting, alone, arms crossed and a pensive look on his face.

  
"All done, sir?" Claude called out to him as he approached the older man. Jeralt shifted his attention to Claude.

  
"Dr. Amal said she can fly in on Monday and proceed with the operation around then," Jeralt told him.

  
Claude nodded. "Good thing she decided to run an MRI and noticed the swelling."

  
Jeralt let out a heavy sigh. "Dr. Rami said he could also bring some medicine from Almyra for Sitri that will have better stabilizing effect."

  
"All right," Claude tilted his head slightly, "those are good things, right?"

  
Jeralt rubbed his temples before standing up from his spot. "Listen, about the fees for these treatments -"

  
"It's all taken care of," Claude interjected, "you don't have to worry about a thing."

  
"I don't want charity."

  
"It's not," Claude replied without missing a beat.

  
"I don't want to be indebted to you either."

  
"You won't. I'm not trying to gain favors over you nor doing this out of a goodwill act. I don't think I carry that kind of philanthropic side in me," Claude maintained. He met the older man's stern gaze. "I'm merely trying to do everything within my ability to have the person I want by my side for the rest of my life to come back to me, and to see her living happily with the people she cherishes most, in good health. That is all."

  
Claude must have caught Jeralt off guard with his response as he saw the other man's eyes widen at him. Before he could respond, their attention was brought to the incessant vibration of Jeralt's phone from his pocket.

  
"It's Elias," Jeralt said. "They're done."

\---

Claude and Jeralt easily spotted Sitri and Elias in the hospital's general waiting room. They both headed over in their direction.

  
"Hey, how did it go?" Elias asked as he noticed the two men approaching.

  
"She did an MRI and noticed a small swelling in her brain that might have a potential to grow so we're scheduled for a decompressive craniectomy on Monday," Claude told that.

  
Elias and Sitri frowned at his words. "What is that? Is she in danger?" Sitri asked worriedly.

  
"She might be if we don't act soon," Jeralt said, "Dr. Amal would remove a piece of her skull to allow room for the swelling to expand and eventually restore itself without having pressure build up in her head."

  
Sitri gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. Elias winced slightly. "That... sounds pretty serious."

  
"Dr. Amal said other than that everything else appeared stable for Byleth so the outlook for recovery post-operation is quite high with proper care. She will personally bring over several of the tools and medicines she normally uses and administers in Almyra for Byleth's care." Claude tried to give Sitri a reassuring smile. "She's in good care right now."

  
"....Okay," Sitri nodded. "I trust her."

  
"We will all hope for the best," Jeralt nodded, "how did your examination with Dr. Rami go?"

  
"It went wonderful!" Sitri replied with a little more spirit, "he was very kind and detailed. But also, our current doctor apparently looked up to him a lot! He was more than thrilled to be able to learn from Dr. Rami."

  
"Honestly, that was the same with Dr.Amal," Claude scratched his face, "I didn't realize how renowned and celebrated they are in the medical field."

  
"A testament to Almyra's medical prowess I guess," Elias raised an eyebrow at Claude.

  
"Heh, yeah," Claude chuckled, "word got out of their arrival here and they'll be at the hospital until around the end of day since a lot of the staff wanted to meet them at some point."

  
"What will you do now?" Elias asked.

  
Claude shrugged. "I guess I'll explore Remire a little bit before stopping by your house," he nodded at the Eisners.

  
"In that case," Elias continued, "I'll go with you. There's somewhere that I wanted you to visit."

  
Claude blinked at him. "Okay, sure."

\---

\---

Claude and Elias arrived at a large, albeit slightly run-down, two storey house. The right side of its expansive yard was adorned with a pair of swing-set, a towering green slide and a see-saw painted in bright colors. The lawn of the yard was neatly trimmed although there are some corners that Claude could spot where the grass would be a little uneven and weeds occasionally grew. As he and Elias got closer towards the house, Claude could hear faint cries, shouts and laughter of children.

  
"I told you that Byleth volunteers at orphanages, right?" Elias spoke.

  
Claude nodded at him.

  
"Well, this is the one she frequents the most."

  
"Why is that?" Claude asked.

  
Elias threw him a lopsided smile. "You'll see."

  
The first thing they saw when they entered the house was a small reception area. The general surrounding is well-kept and void of people save for the woman behind the reception desk, yet the sound of childrens' chatters was more prominent. The young-looking woman behind the reception desk, who sported long blonde hair with a black ribbon pinned at the back of her head and purple eyes, greeted them with a smile when she saw them approach her desk.

  
"Oh, hello Elias," she greeted cheerily, "nice to finally see you again!"

  
"Hi Elise," Elias smiled at her, "it's been a month hasn't it?"

  
"And around when you tend to drop by. You always come by once a month since...the incident." Both Elias and Elise's faces fell. "How's Byleth holding up?" 

  
"She...well...she's stable now, at least. She'll be undergoing an operation on Monday but beyond that, hopefully the outcome will be looking good."

  
"Oh goodness," Elise mutterred, "I pray that everything will be alright."

  
Elias nodded. "Thank you, we need that."

  
"Anyway, who is the fellow behind you?" Elise asked, turning her attention to Claude, "is he a friend?"

  
"Yes, Elise this is Claude, he's…" Elias trailed off, meeting Claude's gaze in questioning. Claude walked forward to Elise and offered a hand to her. 

  
"Byleth's fiance. Pleased to meet you." Claude said to her. The words flowed easily out of his mouth, the simple lie almost a truth to him. It still wasn't the word for it, to describe the deep bond that he shared with Byleth, but it was the second best thing without being too exaggerated.

  
The surprised look on Elise's face was reminiscent of Camilla's back at the hospital. She offered up a hand to him back regardless, still maintaining a shocked look on her face. 

  
"Byleth never mentioned that she had a fiancé," Elise muttered.

  
"There's a private reason why we had to keep things low profile," Claude smiled, withdrawing his hand from her. "But she and I are very much in love, that's for sure."

  
"I see," Elise spoke back quietly. She gave Claude a somber look. "I'm truly sorry for what happened, I'm sure it's very difficult for you right now."

  
"We can't control the hands of fate," Claude sighed heavily. He knitted his brows. "But I can control what I can do for her and I'm trying my best now to help her heal, whatever it takes."

  
Elise's face shifted to a gentle mood. "Your efforts won't be in vain, Claude. A lover's prayer will always get through."

  
"Yeah, I hope so." Claude nodded. 

  
Elias cleared his throat. "Anyway, are Cyrus and Alden free?"

  
"Yes, they are. It's a weekend so they have no classes scheduled." Elise stood up from her desk. "They both should be in the library, please follow me."

  
They trailed after the small woman as she led them up the stairs, past a series of doors in a corridor and into a large room filled with bookcases of varying sizes, desks and chairs. Elise paused, looking around before her eyes lit up as she spotted two boys sitting down by the base of a bookcase, reading side by side.

  
"Alden! Cyrus!" 

  
The two boys looked up from the books in their hands at Elise's call.

  
"Someone is here to see you," Elise said, motioning for them to come closer. The boys stood up, returned their books to their shelves and walked over in Elise's direction. Elias stepped out towards them and Claude noticed that the boys' face brightened at the sight of the man.

  
"Elias!!" they both called out excitedly, scurrying quicker to him.

  
"Hey, you two!" Elias grinned. He crouched down and offered both his hands out to the boys, who met them with energetic high fives. "You sure got taller since the last time I saw you."

  
From the distance, Claude observed Elias exchanging excited chatters with them. They were about six or seven years of age, both roughly the same height. One of them possessed foreign features- tanned complexion, dark brown hair and eyes. The other was most likely from Fodlan with fair skin and dark blue hair with matching eyes. Despite their differences, Claude couldn't help but sense an intangible similarity between the two boys.

  
"Are they...brothers?" Claude asked Elise who was standing next to him.

  
"What?" Elise muttered, sounding more surprised than she should be. "No, they're not," she continued. "I suppose if you look closely, they might share similar features, but they are definitely unrelated. You see Alden there?" she pointed at the blue-haired boy. "He was dropped off here when he was just a newborn, an unfortunate byproduct of a high-school tryst gone wrong. And as for Cyrus over there," Elise pointed to the other boy, "we took him in after he was orphaned at the age of two when his parents died from an automobile accident and he had no other family members to take care of him. He came from a family of Almyran immigrants."

  
"Ah, I see," Claude managed to say, throwing a sad smile in the direction of the boys. "They sure have gone through a lot."

  
"Yes. But they are both intelligent and spirited young boys. One thing for sure, though, is that they share a very close friendship, so much so that they can't bear to be apart from one another/, making their adoption process a little difficult. Not many people are looking to adopt two children at once."

  
"Makes sense," Claude nodded. "It's nice of the orphanage to respect their wishes though."

  
"Of course, they are little humans who have been through a lot, it's the least we can do." Elise turned her attention to the boys once more. "Also, it's a little more than that. These two have become family to each other. Their bond is definitely different to normal friendships. We don't think it's right for us to forcefully separate them. Alden and Cyrus are a set until they both decide by themselves that they can manage without the other."

  
Elise glanced back at Claude with a hint of amusement. "You know, you are literally the only other person who looked at them and thought that they could be brothers. Most people wouldn't come to that conclusion."

  
"Oh?" Claude raised an eyebrow at the woman's remark. "Who is this other minority besides me?"

  
"Byleth," Elise replied. Claude's eyes widened as her name left her lips.

  
"In fact, she asked those same exact words that you posed earlier when you first saw them," Elise continued, "and she also has a strange bond with those two. The three clicked so easily. Once Byleth finished her volunteer task, she would spend time exclusively with these two, sometimes for hours, and the boys always looked forward to her weekly visits."

  
Claude then noticed the downcast shift of Elise's expression.

  
"That had carried on for two years. You can imagine how heartbroken the boys were when they learned of Byleth's condition. It's like they've lost a mother figure that they've grown to cherish."

  
Claude felt a pang in his chest at the thought. He could only imagine. 

  
He walked over to where Elias was crouching and talking to the boys; curiosity got the better of him and he wanted to get a better look at them himself.

  
"When do you think Miss Byleth will wake up?" Claude overheard Alden ask Elias.

  
"When she's all healed and ready to meet you two again," Elias replied. He gave a quick glance to Claude as he heard him approaching. "In the meantime, I want you two to meet someone." Elias stood up, allowing Claude to stop in front of the young boys. "This is Claude. He's a very special person for Miss Byleth. Claude, this is Alden and Cyrus."

  
Claude mustered a friendly grin. “Hey there,” he waved at them.

  
The two boys stared up at him with expressions that Claude couldn’t fathom. He then saw Cyrus whisper hurriedly to Alden.

  
“Yeah I thought so too, but it couldn’t be, right?” Alden muttered quietly to Cyrus.

  
“But he really looks like him,” Cyrus whispered back.

  
Claude couldn’t help but chuckle at the boys’ attempts at being covert. He crouched down so he was at eye-level with them and raised an eyebrow. “You know, if you want to talk about someone, it’s better that you don’t do it in front of that person?”

  
Cyrus and Alden turned to Claude. The Almyran boy fidgeted in his spot before speaking. “Sorry, we were just talking about how you look like the wyvern-riding knight that Miss Byleth talks about in her stories.”

  
“The wyvern-riding knight?” Claude blinked at them. 

  
“Yeah!” Cyrus nodded excitedly, “Miss Byleth likes to make up stories for us about knights who saved Fodlan from dark villains and dragons. She said the greatest knight was a knight who rode a white wyvern and had dark hair and green eyes like yours!”

  
Claude's lips quirked up. "She said that, did she?"

  
"Do you use bows and arrows, Mr. Claude?" Alden tilted his head at him, his blue eyes round and filled with childlike curiosity.

  
"You know what, I actually do," Claude replied with a grin. Archery had been a traditional and prided sport in Almyra, after all. His parents had him taking classes as soon as he was able to hold a bow steady. Not to brag, but he was actually the best in the sport out of all of his half-siblings.

  
"Do you also have a wyvern?" Cyrus questioned him this time.

  
"Well, wyverns aren't real in this world," Claude laughed. "But back in my Almyran home I do have a horse that's as white as snow and runs as fast as a wyvern's flight. Her name is Setareh."

  
"Whoaaaa," the two boys chorused.

  
Claude's eyes softened as his gaze fell upon the boys. He didn't see himself as a person who was overly fond of children. He liked them fine, he could interact with them well if he put an effort. But there was something inexplicable about these two that brought out a feeling of protectiveness and natural affection within him.

_  
Could it be? _

  
"Are you special to Miss Byleth just like the wyvern-knight is to the Fire Queen?" Alden asked.

  
Got to love children and their inquisitiveness.

  
"How special are they to each other?" Claude asked.

  
"They got married and lived happily for the rest of their lives," the Fodlan boy answered.

  
"And they created a peaceful kingdom of Almyra and Fodlan together," Cyrus chipped in.

  
Claude let out a laugh. "That sounds about right," he met both of their gazes, "so you two love reading and fantasy stories?"

  
Both of them nodded. 

  
"Did Miss Byleth tell you the story of The Fire Queen?"

  
"She didn't talk about her much," Alden brought a hand to his chin in thought, as if trying to solve the world's biggest mystery. Claude had to hold back a chortle from how comically adorable they were. 

  
"The Fire Queen fought side by side the wyvern knight. That's all we know. Oh, and she has a sword made from fire that's why her name is Fire Queen," Cyrus continued.

  
"Well, you're missing out then, because although the wyvern-knight is a great knight," Claude said, with a little more gusto and self pride than he expected, "the Fire Queen is actually the greatest, most powerful warrior out there. Stronger than the wyvern knight himself!"

  
"Really?" Cyrus asked, brimming with excitement.

  
"Do you have stories to tell?" Alden followed.

  
"I actually do," Claude told him. He glanced briefly at Elias who met him with a nod.

  
"Go ahead, I'll hang around here until you're done," he told Claude. At that, Claude shifted his attention back to the boys. "Let's go to the playground and I'll tell you all about the Fire Queen."

  
"All right!!" the boys exclaimed happily and made their way out of the library. Claude trailed behind them, a smile plastered on his face the entire time, a feeling of indescribable fullness he had never felt before welling up in his chest.

-

Elias sat on one of the lawn benches, watching from a distance as Claude, Alden and Cyrus played and laughed with each other by the swingset and slide. Watching them was like seeing three people who had known each other their entire lives; there was no restraint, no awkwardness. The easiness and chemistry between the three were inexplicable, like puzzle pieces that fit together.

  
"Those three got along fairly quickly," Elise noted, standing by the bench, her arms folded across her chest.

  
"Just like Byleth did?" Elias asked.

  
The blonde nodded at him. "Was that why you brought him along today?"

  
"I had a hunch," Elias shrugged.

  
"I can see why Byleth had chosen him," Elise noted. "You know, she told me once that if she was in a better position at life, she would have taken those two under her care in a heartbeat," she turned to Elias, "do you think he would share the same sentiment?"

  
Elias noted Alden and Cyrus' unrestrained laughter as Claude mimicked a dragon to them, an expression that he could describe as bliss and happiness on Claude's face. It made him reminisce to the way Jeralt's face would soften when he and Byleth were young as the older man played with them. 

  
"I think so," Elias muttered quietly.

\---

\---

They spent the next hour at the orphanage before they had to leave, much to Alden and Cyrus' dismay.

  
"Will you come again Mr.Claude?" the boys asked him, eyes hopeful and mercilessly tugging at Claude's heartstrings.

  
"Of course I will," Claude grinned, ruffling both of their hair. "I'll try to come every week until Miss Byleth gets better. And then I will visit with her when she does, okay?"

  
That prompted excited cheers from Alden and Cyrus.

  
Claude left the orphanage with Elias, back to the Eisners' house as Sitri had insisted that they both have lunch at home.

  
"I thought there was a reason behind Byleth's bond with those two," Elias spoke in the middle of the way back to the house. "I was right wasn't I?" 

  
Claude chuckled, his eyes focused on the road, hands tight around the steering wheel of his car. "Yeah, sort of," he muttered back, "but regardless of that, they're really good kids."

  
They drove back mainly in silence, Claude's head filled with questions that nobody else could answer but Byleth and himself.

  
When they arrived at the Eisners' house, they were both greeted by a hearty spread that had been prepared by Sitri. Claude noticed that she had selected some Almyran specialties as part of the menu.

  
“I thought we could have something that reminded you a little bit of home. I didn’t cook some of these, but I hope they’ll be to your taste regardless,” said Sitri.

  
Claude shook his head. “No, this is all very thoughtful of you, thank you very much!”

  
Lunch went on quite pleasantly. The food was delectable and Claude had filled Jeralt and Sitri in on his day at the orphanage along with some of his most recent dreams with Byleth.

  
“Claude,” Jeralt came to him when Claude was in the middle of helping Sitri and Elias clear out the dishes, “when you’re done, can you join me outside for a bit?”

  
Claude blinked at the older man’s request. “Yeah, sure.”

\---

Claude went to the Eisners’ front lawn as Jeralt had asked and spotted the man sitting in one of the chairs by the small circular garden table, smoking a cigarette. He walked over to the former military captain.

  
“You wanted to talk to me, sir?” Claude asked him.

  
Jeralt glanced up at him. “Yeah, have a seat,” he nodded at the empty chair across from him.

  
Claude slid into the chair. An awkward silence danced around them for a few seconds.

  
“You smoke?” Jeralt offered up the packet of cigarettes in his hand to Claude.

  
“No sir,” Claude shook his head. He chuckled. “Trying to keep this body an upright temple as best as I could.”

  
The corner of Jeralt’s lips tilted up. “Smart move,” he retracted his hand back. “I only do this occasionally as well, considering Sitri’s condition.”

  
“Yeah, I understand,” Claude nodded.

  
There was another pause and Jeralt took a long drag of cigarette and exhaled loudly before speaking.

  
“Listen, I do appreciate what you’re trying to do, even to the point risking the identity your family has been trying to hide all these years,” the former captain began, “and after everything I’ve heard and seen, I do believe that you share the dreams that Byleth has and that... she came to you. After years of being married to a Nabatean and being a dad to a child who harbors special powers, I should be more open to grasp the fact that there are things in this life that simply can’t be explained.”

  
“It’s all right. And trust me, if I were in your position I think it would take me a while to grasp everything well,” Claude said back, trying to keep a good-natured tone.

  
Jeralt took another drag of his cigarette. “I am aware of your affections towards my daughter and that’s why I want to talk.” He tapped the cigarette in his hand over the ashtray on the table, letting crumbles of burnt ash fall off it. "The doctors said there are several scenarios that could happen whenever Byleth decided to wake up. The best case scenario is that she will only need to go through a long period of physiotherapy to help her adjust back into her body." He met Claude's eyes, his gaze cutting and sharp. "The other possibility is that she will wake up not retaining a portion of her memories. And the third is that she could wake up and be physically disabled, and would need assistance for the rest of her life. What would you do, should these two scenarios happen?"

  
Claude met the man with equal seriousness, knowing the unspoken weight behind the questions he posed. 

  
"If she wakes up without any recollection of me, then I would simply start over and allow her to get to know me again, and wait for her to remember the feelings that she had forgotten...however long that may take," Claude said without any hesitation, "I firmly believe we are meant to be together and I would wait however long for her to come around. And if it was the case that she needed assistance for the rest of her life, then I'd be willing and ready to help her and be by her side, provide her with whatever she needed."

  
"Listen," Jeralt interjected, "I'm not asking these questions just for Byleth's sake. I'm asking for your sake as well. You're young and quite successful. There's no need to question your lineage. You make an eligible bachelor option for anyone with the level of power you have access to. You can really go far in life. I don't want you to end up locking yourself to the worst case scenarios and ending up realizing later the weight, burden and hindrance that have been imposed upon you. I don't want that for you nor for Byleth."

  
"Burden and hindrance?" Claude said with a tone of disbelief, "with all due respect sir, Byleth will never be those two to me. I know it would be difficult should the worst-case scenarios happen but I would never perceive taking care of her as a burden. I would rather go through the hardship with her by my side than not being with her at all.”

  
“Blind faith and romanticism will get you nowhere kid,” Jeralt pointed out.

  
“It’s not...well...I guess when you look at it, it seems that way,” Claude sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m a man of science. I don’t easily believe in anything without sound evidence either. When I first had these dreams, it took me a while to come to terms with the fact that they were not a one-off thing.” His green eyes met Jeralt’s exhaustion-coated ones. “I know what your concern is as well, sir. I could be with anyone else I chose and believe me I didn’t really go into this blindly. Before Byleth came to me, I have tried meeting other people, by my own volition or arranged. They came from all walks of life. And I ended up cutting them short and backing away from them because eventually...I realized I was trying to find Byleth in every one of them. I was not seeing any of them for who they are. It was not fair to them nor to myse.” 

  
He paused, casting his gaze down at the ground, a wistful smile playing on his lips. “Then Byleth comes along, and everything just...fits. It feels like I have found what I’ve been searching for my entire life. I see her for herself. I want her as herself. I'm truly happy and whole when she’s by my side. And this, I didn't discover from blind faith but rather a series of trial and error I've gone through in the past. The connection I feel with her is beyond anything I ever experienced and I don't think I can find that with anyone else. Ever."

  
Jeralt regarded Claude with a speculative look for a few seconds. "You're a stubborn one, aren't you."

  
"I've been told I can be quite hard-headed when I want something," Claude chuckled, "after all getting to where I am doesn't really come without a little determination. And when it comes to Byleth, we are talking about someone I've searched for for more than half my life, so it's safe to say there's no changing my mind in this argument."

  
Jeralt let out a snort, his lips quirked up once more. He turned his attention in front of him, focusing at nothing in particular as his eyes fixated in the general direction of the neighborhood beyond the Eisners' lawn. "When the time comes, you'll look after her and make her happy?"

  
"As best as I could with everything I had," Claude said to the older man, honesty brimming in every word. "And if I fall short of that promise, you and Elias have my permission to do whatever you see fit to me."

  
"Kid, I don't need your permission to do that," Jeralt retorted, "you hurt my daughter in any way and I will make your life hell. I don't care if you're the crown prince of another country. "

  
Claude smiled at the man. This was probably as close to an approval that he would get from Jeralt, a man who was the embodiment of strength and ruggedness, yet who also had a fragile side towards the people he cared the most. 

  
“That’s fine by me, sir,” Claude said to him, swearing to himself that he would do everything in his power to keep the promise he gave to the older man.

\---

\---

With ample time remaining until he had to go back to the hospital to pick up the doctors, Claude decided to spend a little bit more of the afternoon going through Byleth’s journal entries. He was once more given access to her room. Before heading up, Claude paused and took a good look around the house, something he didn’t manage to do in the last visit as his panic state and anxiety was on overdrive.

  
The Eisners' house was everything Claude expected of a small middle-class family - a collection of complementing furnitures arranged together to form one whole home, a fireplace lit in the living room creating a cozy atmosphere. Adjacent to the living area was a dining corner consisting of a small four-person wooden dining table. Not too far across it was an open kitchen. It was comfortable and homey and everything Claude wanted in a place should he settle down one day.

  
There were several pictures hung on the walls of the house but Claude gave special attention to the ones placed on top of the fireplace. On top of it were four framed pictures, all of which included Byleth. There was a picture of a small, cherubic blue-haired toddler with a pink ribbon clipped to her hair. Next to it was a picture of Byleth and Elias, an arm around each others’ shoulders as they both grinned towards the camera. Claude guessed that they were around their early teens then. There was a picture of Byleth surrounded by grade-school children smiling happily. And then, there was the last one, the one that had pulled him into a trance.

  
It was a lone picture of Byleth all grown up. She was wearing a simple white summer dress. Behind her was a picturesque sunny blue sky that met the ocean in the horizon. But the face she had on in that picture,  _ stars _ , it was so serene, happy and peaceful. She looked like an angel trapped in the small frame. Claude immediately walked over to the picture to have a better look.

  
He felt a pang in his chest. God, he missed her. He missed having her next to him so much and seeing that beautiful smile in the flesh. Being in a house where traces of Byleth’s memories were in every corner did not make things easier for him. He could almost hear her voice and laughter.

_  
She looks so happy here _ , Claude thought to himself.

  
“We were in Derdriu when this was taken,” Sitri spoke, appearing behind Claude. She slid down into the sofa across the fireplace. “She loved the beach there.”

  
Claude’s lips tugged up slightly in a bittersweet smile at that. Of course she would. He had frequent thoughts of bringing her to Derdriu and showing her all the beautiful sights it had to offer, especially its coasts. Would he still have the chance to? His chest tightened at the thought.

  
“How long were you there for?”

  
“Not long, about a year and a half or so before Byleth and Elias turned fifteen,” Sitri replied.

  
“I see,” Claude muttered. He turned his attention back to Byleth’s image once more.

  
“You really like that picture of her, don’t you?” Sitri pointed out after a few moments of silence.

  
“Oh, uh..” Claude turned to her, slightly flustered. Sitri was looking at him with an amused smile. “Yeah,” Claude scratched his face, a little sheepish, “I thought I had pictures of her but it turns out...I didn’t.”

  
Sitri pats the empty spot next to her on the sofa. “Claude, come over here for a minute.”

  
He blinked at the green-haired woman before stepping forward and took his place on the sofa next to her. Sitri had her attention fixed to the picture frames on top of the fireplace.

  
“I want her to have a normal life. Discover her passions, find the person she loves and hold dear. Especially with the possibility that time is not on her side,” Sitri began.

  
Claude tightened his fists, an automatic action he wasn’t thinking of. “Is it really true though? That all of those who possess these powers don’t have a long lifespan?”

  
“From what I’ve seen so far, yes,” Sitri replied, her expression falling, “I constantly receive news of my relatives who have these special abilities growing sick or dying, the ones whose powers were stronger seems to leave this world earlier than any of us would have liked. I have my heart condition, and I’ve been told you knew Flayn?”

  
Claude nodded. 

  
“She’s been battling lupus for the longest time now, the poor dear. So when I saw that Byleth possessed such prominent abilities...internally I kept telling myself to prepare for the worst. I just...didn’t expect it to happen just as she was finally having some semblance of a normal life.”

  
Claude gritted his teeth, his brows furrowing. “We don’t know that yet.”

  
“No, and I truly hope this is not the time for her to be gone,” Sitri replied. She shifted her gaze up to him. “One thing I have always wanted Byleth to experience was love, to know the feeling of having someone cherish her so much. She tried but in the end she was adamant that there was no one for her but the man that was in her dreams. As a mother, I was getting a little worried, I wanted her to have someone to look after her when Jeralt and I couldn’t anymore and I was worried that she’s putting so much hope on something that might just not be real.”

  
Sitri moved her hand and placed it on top of Claude’s. “But then you showed up and you mirrored everything she said with conviction. You showed us how much you cared for her, how far you’re willing to go for her. I’m so glad that what she saw was not mere imagination and I’m so glad that the man who loved her is a kind and caring soul. Thank you Claude, I’m really happy that you were the one she was fated to be with.”

  
Claude felt his throat tightening, his eyes becoming more moist than they normally should be. He swallowed and blinked all the sensations away before he could succumb to them. “Nothing to thank me for, Byleth is a wonderful soul who deserves all the world,” he gave her a reassuring smile, “when she does wake up, I promise I’ll strive to make her happy for the rest of our lives.”

  
Sitri nodded. “I have no doubts about that.”

  
She retracted her hand from his and they both returned their attention to the small framed picture of Byleth, the one thread that had connected all of them and left a big mark in all of their hearts even in her absence.

  
"Anyway, I think I'll be going upstairs for a bit," Claude said to Sitri.

  
"Oh yes, sure," Sitri nodded at him, "I hope you'll find out something useful up there."

  
"I hope so too," Claude replied. He stood up and turned to her one last time. "Thank you again for your kind hospitality, by the way. I can’t thank you enough.”

  
“It’s what a mother does,” Sitri smiled at him. He returned the gesture before turning around and heading in the direction of the stairs.

  
As he climbed up, he noticed more pictures placed by the wall arranged in an ascending manner. There was a younger-looking Jeralt in his military uniform. Another frame of Sitri and Jeralt on what he presumed was their wedding day. Next to it was a family picture of the Eisners, Elias standing in the center in his military uniform grinning proudly. The last one was of another family picture but this time, Byleth was standing in the center dressed in a graduation gown holding a diploma in her hand.

  
They’re a close knit family and it was reflected in the house that he was in.

  
Claude opened the door to Byleth’s empty room and found the box of journals still placed on the desk. He smiled, walking towards it and slid into Byleth’s study chair. He took out a journal and set aside the box. He opened the book in his hand…

  
….and suddenly everything went black.

\---

\---

Claude found himself in a space of darkness, save for a trail of light speckles that seemed to lead somewhere far off that he couldn’t discern. It was like being in a space of emptiness. There was no sound, not even a scent.

  
And yet despite the darkness, Claude found he was able to see himself, as if light was emitting from his own form.

  
Was it another dream? He couldn’t recall ever having this particular dream. He looked down at himself and was surprised that he was still in the clothes he was wearing that day.   
  
  
_ This wasn't his usual dreams. _

  
With nowhere to go, Claude decided to follow the trail of lights, hoping it would provide him some answers to his current predicament. The walk felt as if it went on forever, perhaps because there was nothing to mark how far he had managed to go. Eventually, however, he was able to see something at the end of the trail. He quickened his pace towards the mysterious object.

  
It was a set of stairs made out of stone, leading up to a throne-like chair. In it sat a young-looking woman, with long green hair and flowing purple dress-like regalia, her head donned in an intricate headpiece. She had an arm propped up on the throne and had leaned her face against it, her eyes closed. As he moved closer to her, the mysterious woman opened her eyes, revealing two turquoise eyes. They focused on him, a mixture of curiosity and scrutiny.

  
"Who are you?" Claude asked her, stopping by the base of the staircase leading up to her throne.

  
"My name is Sothis," she answered flatly, her voice was girlish, a little high-pitched, yet it carried a certain authority within. "But some have called me 'The Beginning'."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If any of you are in the medical field, I apologize in advance should there be any inaccuracies in medical terms used. I am but a mere writer.


	13. Listen to Your Heart

_ "Who are you?" Claude asked her, stopping by the base of her throne's staircase. _

_  
"My name is Sothis," she answered flatly, her voice was girlish, a little high pitched, yet it carried a certain authority within. "But some have called me 'The Beginning'." _

  
“Sothis? The Beginning?” Claude remarked. “Wait, as in Sothis that Byleth used as her pseudonym for her book?”

  
Sothis merely raised an eyebrow silently as her reply.

  
“Where am I by the way?” Claude asked, looking around him once more. “What is this place?”

  
Sothis stood up from her throne. “You’re in my domain.” She slowly descended the stairs towards him. “And the only other person who is able to be in here and be graced by my presence directly, so be grateful,  _ mortal _ .”

  
She stopped a few steps away from him. Despite the fact that Claude towered over her, he strangely felt smaller in comparison to the mysterious stranger in the space with him.

  
“Mortal?” Claude asked, a little miffed by her slightly condescending tone. “What are you then, if not a mortal as well?”

  
Sothis rolled her eyes, acting as if Claude had asked a question with a painstakingly obvious answer. “Like I said, some have called me The Beginning.” She stopped in front of him once she had climbed all the way down. “Or rather The Goddess. I am the progenitor god of Fodlan.”

  
The progenitor what of what now? 

  
"What is  _ that _ supposed to be?" Claude asked incredulously.

  
Sothis sighed. "And here I thought Byleth needed to learn some manners, you are much worse than her. I wonder why you are the one she is fated to be with."

  
Claude perked up as Byleth's name left Sothis' lips. "Wait, Byleth, is she here as well?"

  
"No," Sothis replied flatly. "Rather, this domain is actually somewhere inside her."

  
Claude blinked. "Come again?"

  
Sothis sighed, frustration etched on her face. She crossed her arm and met Claude's eyes with a stern expression. "Okay, letus start from the beginning. You are here because you are eternally bound to Byleth and you have some questions you want answers for, correct?"

  
"Some is an understatement," Claude retorted. "Wait, what do you mean by eternally bound?"

  
"Oh, you mortals and your limited knowledge," Sothis said with minute hints of exasperation. She began to walk slowly around Claude as she continued. "It means that you and her share a bond that transcends lifetimes. Perhaps even beyond life. You have heard of the tales of strings of fate yes?"

  
"The strings that existed between two people who are meant to be soulmates?"

  
"Correct," Sothis nodded, "it's a very rare occurrence. Very few people share it, but when they do, that tie is absolutely unbreakable. And Byleth happened to share one with you."

  
Multiple lifetimes with Byleth. Claude can absolutely live with that.

  
"Is that why we both have those dreams?" Claude raised an eyebrow at Sothis.

  
"Partially," the supposed-goddess replied. “Although most people would not have such vivid recollections of their past lives. The main reason why you have them is because you are fated with Byleth. And she and I were an entity merged together in your past life.”

  
“...What?” Claude asked once more. He’s starting to feel as if he’s parroting the same questions over and over again but it can’t be helped. This Sothis was practically speaking to him in riddles.

  
“You’ve read her journal records have you not?” Sothis asked.

  
Claude nodded.

  
“Was there anything in there that stood out to you in particular?” 

  
Claude scrunched his brows together as he recalled the entries he could remember from his memory.

  
“There are two things that I’ve been wondering about…” Claude spoke with a hint of reluctance. “One is that, in some dreams, Byleth appeared to be able to...manipulate time, somehow? “

  
Sothis gave him a nod.

  
“And the second was that...she seemed to have experienced the same set of timelines differently. Some of the dreams she had, I’ve had them myself but then there are some others that escaped me,” Claude continued.

  
“Fine observations,” Sothis remarked. “You may be a little uncouth but you are sharp, at least.”

  
Claude deadpanned at her. “That comment doesn’t exactly make me feel good about myself.”

  
If Sothis heard him, then she chose to disregard his comment completely. She walked towards the throne and ascended the stairs, turning around and taking her place on the intricately carved stone chair once more.

  
“Among many of my powers is the power to manipulate time and space,” Sothis began, “and that manifested in Byleth when I merged with her, tampered down as it was.”

  
“Wait,” Claude interjected, “what do you mean by merging with Byleth and more importantly, how?”

  
Sothis leaned to her side and placed her face against her propped up hands. “If you do not know then it does not concern you, time is of essence. I cannot keep you in this domain for long.”

  
Claude frowned. “Why not?”

  
“Because right now, I am merely a fraction of myself that has managed to remain with Byleth’s soul. The realm of dreams and unconsciousness is the only domain I have power over. Moreover, my reincarnated self would not take my interference kindly in this lifetime.”

  
“ _ Your reincarnated self? _ ”

  
Sothis sighed. “In this world, my reincarnation is the progenitor of the Nabatean family. The one who granted them their affluence with all the conditions that followed.”

  
Claude’s eyes widened. The mysterious deity existed after all?

  
“Though, she is much more ruthless than I would ever be. I would never demand the lives of you mortals for myself, but I suppose in this time period and universe us divinities have crumbled down to mere folklore and those contraptions you mortals call technology are our replacement. I understand why my reincarnated self would demand the souls of the Nabateans to keep her divinity alive.”

  
“Wait, hang on,” Claude said, waving a hand at her. He sensed an impending headache looming from all the information that was thrown at him. “If that deity is technically you..and the curse is real, does that mean you know how to undo it?”

  
Sothis stared at Claude silently for a few seconds, an unreadable expression on her face. She closed her eyes. “No, I cannot,” she muttered with a tone void of emotions. She lifted her eyelids and met his gaze from her throne. “Like I said, this universe is hers, I am powerless to do such a thing. The curse had been sealed with the death of the first Nabatean.”

  
He felt his stomach drop. Claude gritted his teeth. “So you’re just going to let Byleth die before her time?”

  
“My personal feelings regarding her mortality will not change anything,” Sothis replied. “Besides, it could be that she seeks death in this lifetime as well.”

  
Claude blinked at Sothis’ words. “...What do you mean by that?”

  
“Do you know why she experienced the same timelines differently?”

  
Claude shook his head. 

  
“When I merged with her, it was not only my powers that manifested in her. Parts of my divinity also affected her.”

  
“...How?” Claude frowned.

  
“If we are not terribly maimed or killed instantly, we are able to live very long lives, and to be able to kill us is not an easy endeavour,” Sothis began once more, “in essence, Byleth had difficulty dying.”

  
Claude inhaled sharply. 

  
"This was something she could not remember from her dreams. She outlived her friends, family and people she loved. She outlived you," Sothis continued, "and each attempt took her 1000 years to accumulate enough power to turn back time, all the way to the your first meeting."

  
"...Why did she need to turn back time so far?" Claude managed to ask despite his perplexed state.

  
“Mortals are not meant for such longevity, it is within your nature to expect an end," Sothis explained. "From what I can recall, the very first time she experienced the timeline you both dreamt of, you both had to be lovers discreetly until the end."

_  
So she chose the lions first? _ Claude remarked in his head. 

  
“Oh, do not be so gutted that you did not catch her attention first, you were still the one she chose in the end,” Sothis smirked.

  
Claude scowled at her. “I wasn’t thinking of that.”

  
“If you insist, but your expression says otherwise,” Sothis pointed out with mirth. “Back to the topic at hand. As you may have read, you both had to establish your relationship behind closed doors. That carried on for many years until you died at the age of fifty, a poisoning attempt that you somehow overlooked by one of your nephews who was after your throne.”

  
Claude gritted his teeth. A poisoning attempt. Really? How ironic is it that for someone who tampered with poison often had died of the same thing he devoted a large portion of his time to.

  
“Byleth was evidently devastated but she carried on regardless,” Sothis continued. “She fulfilled her role and carried on throughout the years, watching everyone she knew and held dear succumb to age and death. It got to a point where she felt so lonely and hollow that she tried turning back time to when she felt most alive. But it did not succeed. Every 100 years or so, she would try and try again, each attempt seemingly bringing her closer to her goal. And in the 1000th year, she succeeded. She turned back the hands of time far enough to when she met you and made sure this time she picked you.”

  
Sothis regarded Claude silently for a few seconds as if gauging his reactions before proceeding once more. “The rest of the story in this lifetime I am sure you are very familiar with already. You two lived happy lives together, had children together. But…” Sothis paused for a second. “Immortality caught up with her once more. You aged. At some point, she stopped aging. You left her behind eventually. So did your children and grandchildren. After some time, she had to watch over your descendants from afar and hide her existence from them as mortals became more sceptical about us.”

  
Claude couldn’t hide the pained look on his face as he thought of Byleth, traversing the course of time all alone. Time was always the bane of humankind. It was either too little or too much, both of which could dampen the spirit in them.

  
“Why was I only able to remember this timeline?” Claude asked, his eyes downcast, gazing at an invisible point of focus.

  
“This is the timeline where your bond with her was at its strongest, and the only reason you were able to remember this previous life was because of the link she shared with you. You do not have such powers by your own volition,” Sothis replied. “Carrying on, she tried turning back time once more but found that she could only do so after 1000 years have passed. When she did, she chose another path, hoping that it would lead her to an ideal end.”

_  
“Whether it’s the past or two thousand years from now, you will be the one I search for. You are my home and my heart.” _

  
Claude suddenly remembered those words of Byleth’s in one of his dreams. Knowing what he knew, those words now carried a different meaning to him, words that shouldered a hefty weight.

  
She had literally searched for him all along, for two thousand years. She had never once let go of her heart’s hold on him.

  
“What happened the third time?” he asked.

  
“In that lifetime, you and her never got a chance to become lovers despite harboring special regards towards each other,” Sothis filled him in. Then Claude noticed a sombre shift in Sothis’ eyes. “In that lifetime, she lost her divinity and was able to return as a mortal once more. However…” Sothis trailed off, her eyes fixed on his.

  
Claude understood. “She was forced to kill me didn’t she…” he quipped, remembering the entries he had read from her journal.

  
Sothis nodded. “It was perhaps a mercy on her that she was a mortal. She did not have to carry the pain from the memory of you dying by her hands for too long.”

  
There was a pang in his chest that was so vivid he thought he would crumble into himself. Even in another life, Byleth’s burdens were heavier than most. He wished so amply to be able to save her from the weight that she had to carry by herself in all of her lifetimes.

  
“Is the time we are in now a far-off future from that lifetime?” Claude managed to let out after a brief few seconds of silence.

  
“Time stretches forward but it does not always move in a linear direction. It can shift and twist in its path and in the process, past occurrences can be reborn again. Such is the time you are in now, a future-divergent of the past you had visions of."

  
By this time, Claude's head was throbbing from the overload of information he had to absorb and process. Future-divergent, time travel, reincarnation….those are all such abstract and fantastical subjects Claude thought only existed in fiction, not reality. And yet here he was, a form of history that was reborn again. 

  
"If time can be bent and twisted...can't you change the path of time for Byleth?" he asked, hoping his understanding of the concept was correct. Rewind time before her accident, save her.

  
"I cannot, for a number of things," the green-haired goddess replied, "I am powerless to do so. As I said, I am only a small part of who I was. And second...Byleth's path is already sealed by fate."

  
Claude furrowed his eyebrows at her. "What do you mean by that?"

  
Sothis sighed. "There are some paths of time whose end would branch into new ones when we rewound. However, there are also other paths whose end is absolute, death is one of them."

  
Claude felt his heart drop at her words.

  
"No matter how you twist and turn the path, death will find her one way or the other, the end result cannot be changed."

  
Claude clenched his fists by his sides. "Is that time...close?"

  
"I am not at liberty to say," Sothis remarked flatly.

  
He looked straight at her, his eyes brimming with a mixture of emotions, fury, rage, exasperation and desperation. "I can't lose her now. We still have so much to accomplish together...and a future I want to create with her."

  
Sothis stared at him, deplete of recognizable emotions. Before she could speak, a loud rumbling sound reverberated around them causing both to look up and around in surprise.

  
"I suppose it is time for you to return to your consciousness," Sothis remarked.

  
"Wait! I still have more questions to ask," Claude tried to move towards her only to find that he was unable to mobilize his body, as if his legs have turned to stone. The speckles of light around them disappeared and the darkness around them started to engulf both Sothis and himself.

  
"You can ask her yourself," were the last words Claude remembered Sothis had muttered to him. "And make sure to make your time count."

\---

\---

Claude cracked his eyelids open, blinking several times as he adjusted back to the brightness around him. He lifted his head, and realized he was in Byleth's room once more, still at her desk. He rubbed his temples, massaging the traces of grogginess out of his head.

  
"What the heck was that dream?" he mumbled to himself. Or was it even a dream? It felt like its own course of events. And what did Sothis mean by making his time count?

  
Everything felt like a lucid dream, even while awake. He sighed, looking at the journal that was open in front of him.

  
His eyes widened slightly at the words written on the pages of the open notebook.

_  
"I finally remembered another name. And another face. Sothis. She was inside me all along because I had her heart. _

_  
And that was why I never knew what a heart beat felt like for the majority of that lifetime..." _

\---

\---

Claude left the Eisners' house just before sunset. He then dropped by the hospital and picked up the two Almyran doctors, who had acquainted themselves with every single staff there and inspected every nook and cranny of the establishment.

  
"It's passable for a small suburb but they are not equipped for major, major surgeries," Amal commented as the three made their way to Fodlan National Airport that is just outside Garreg Mach.

  
"What about Byleth's surgery?"

  
"It's up there, that's why I will be bringing along some equipment and medications from Almyra with me later."

  
They arrived at the airport an hour before the doctors' flight.

  
" _ Thank you so much for coming last minute, I know how busy your schedules are _ ," Claude said to them by the departure gate in his mother tongue.

  
" _ It is no problem _ ," Rami replied. " _ After all, it is our primary duty to serve the Amir's family. Including their betrothed. _ "

  
" _ She will be your betrothed, correct _ ?" Amal raised an eyebrow at him. " _ Your father and mother were asking us to treat her with great urgency _ ."

  
"Ah," Claude scratched his cheek and felt heat crawling up his neck and face, "I'm really hoping yes."

  
Soft smiles appeared across Amal and Rami’s lips,

  
“ _ Then I will try my best to cure our future princess. And perhaps queen, someday _ ?” said Amal pointedly.

  
Claude let out a small laugh at her remark. “ _ You know very well I’m the last person the council wants as the next leader of Almyra. Besides, I’m not interested in the throne _ .”

  
“ _ Too bad, because I like you, Prince Khalid _ ,” the doctor replied, “ _ you are the most progressive out of all your siblings and cousins. Almyra and Fodlan would do well with that mind of yours. _ ”

  
“Flattery will get you nowhere unfortunately,” Claude chuckled, “ _ I thank you for seeing me with such high regard but my long-term life plan does not involve the throne. I want to make changes directly with my own two hands _ .”

  
“It’s worth a try,” Amal grinned back at him. No sooner than that, her expression became solemn. “Byleth is stable for now, apart from the minor swelling at least. Once the operation is done, all we can do is wait for her to come round. Don’t stop praying for her.”

  
“I won’t,” Claude nodded. “Thank you.”

  
“Anyway,” Rami spoke this time, looking at his watch, “we should get going now if we don’t want to miss the flight.  _ Your Highness _ , I’ll be back Monday for further evaluation of Mrs. Eisner.”

  
“All right,” Claude smiled at him.

  
“I will see you on Monday as well,” said Amal.

  
Claude watched the two doctors leave, and with them, the single thread of hope he had for Byleth.

  
At least they would be back, along with his glimmer of light in what could be a long, cloudy journey.

\---

\---

It was eight in the evening when Claude finally arrived at his apartment. His stomach grumbled in protest from the lack of attention since lunch. He sighed as he keyed in the numbers to his front door lock. He was too exhausted to cook anything and too hungry to wait long for his meal. He started racking his brain for the closest fast-food chain nearby.

  
The door clicked open. He stopped in his tracks by the threshold and frowned. The lights to his apartment were on when he knew he left them off in the morning and...he could smell freshly cooked food? Who would have access to his place apart from his parents (who he knew were in Almyra that week), his uncle Godfrey (who made a point to never make unannounced visits) and then, well, Byleth.

  
He walked into his apartment, treading carefully. He heard the faint scraping of one of his dining stools against the floor, then slow and steady footsteps walking towards his direction. He froze, wide-eyed and his own heartbeat beating rapidly, a bullet train in his chest.

  
"...By?"

  
Stopping just a few steps away from him was Byleth, in the black jacket and blue jeans that she often wore. She had a soft expression on as her blue irises met his, a gentle smile gracing her soft, pink lips.

  
"Hi, welcome home," she spoke, tenderness coating her tone. The sound of her voice was an angelic music that he had endlessly hoped to hear once more.

  
"You...you're here...how…?" he stammered. He rubbed his eyes, checking to see if he was hallucinating but she was still there, smiling oh so beautifully at him.

  
"This is another dream right?" he said, closing his eyes, "because I just saw you in the hospital today."

  
But if it was a dream, then he hoped he wouldn't have to wake so soon.

  
He heard footsteps walking towards him as she gradually closed the space between them and he could smell the scent of fresh lilies that she always carried with her. He felt a pair of dainty fingers caress his face. Warm breath. And then something soft landed on his lips. It was fleeting, almost reluctant and careful but he always remembered the sensation of her lips on his. It felt like a warm spring. 

  
Just as he was about to allow himself to melt into the kiss, she pulled away. He gave a short moan of protest as he blinked his eyes open, and was greeted with Byleth looking up at him, her hands now placed on his upper chest. 

  
"You're really here…" he managed to say.

  
"Yeah, I am," she whispered back. He noticed a small quiver on her eyelids, her beautiful blue eyes glistening more than usual. She leaned forward and buried her face against his chest.

  
"I'm sorry…" she muttered into him. Her form shook slightly and there was a crack in her voice. "I'm so sorry I couldn't tell you the entire truth. I'm so sorry for being selfish and showing up to see you when my fate is uncertain...I-"

  
Claude held her shoulders and gently pulled her off him, just enough so he could see her face.

  
"Hey, now, stop saying sorry," he said, a hand moving up and wiping the trail of tears that were spilling out of the corner of her eyes. It hurt him to see her cry each time. "You have absolutely  _ nothing _ to be sorry for. I'm so, so happy you took the leap of courage and decided to come into my life and I wouldn't change our meeting in any way." He pulled her closer to him. "You are an incredible woman for facing all the struggles you've gone through with immense strength and dignity. I don't know how anyone could compare to you."

  
Byleth scoffed at him. "I think I've said this before to you, but you think too highly of me."

  
"It's not an overstatement when it's true," Claude grinned at her. He leaned forward so their foreheads touched. "You don't know how much I missed you..."

  
"I missed you too," Byleth replied. "I could hear you, you know, when you visited me back at the hospital. And it pained me so much that I couldn't reach out to you back."

  
"Well, let's change that now that you're here." He shifted and closed the miniscule gap between them, his lips on hers, finding their home once more. She pressed up against him, tender with a hint of want and they kissed, slow and passionate, making up for the time they had lost.

  
The kiss would have grown into something much more heated had it not been interrupted by the loud, rumbling sound coming from Claude's stomach, loud enough to make Byleth pull back and look back at him with mirth.

  
"Ugh, talk about wrong timing," Claude groaned and Byleth giggled at him.

  
"Actually, it's perfect since I just cooked. I thought you might be hungry." She pulled away from him and grasped his hand. "Let's eat first before we reconnect once again, hmm? " 

  
She pulled him with her towards his kitchen and he allowed himself to be led, all the while staring at their intertwined hands in awe. This was real right? Claude had seen different dimensions and timelines for the past week alone, he was starting to lose grasp on what reality was.

  
But perhaps a singular reality was just a perception and that there were other planes of existence that were equally real. If anything the past week had taught him, it was that he should  _ believe _ . 

  
If this was a dream then he would stay asleep for as long as possible. He curled his fingers around hers a little tighter. A reality where Byleth was the one he wanted to build a home around..

\---

During dinner, Claude talked about his time meeting the Eisners. He told Byleth of how kind Sitri was, how supportive and informative Elias had been and how despite his tough demeanor, Jeralt was a father who treasured his daughter to heart.

  
“Did he give you a hard time?” Byleth asked with a smirk.

  
“A little. But I think I managed to get through him on the condition that he has free reign to make my life hell if I hurt you in any way.”

  
Byleth chortled at that, her shoulders lax and her eyes twinkling bright, and the grief that overcame her moments ago seemed to have disappeared from her train of thoughts. He smiled to himself, committing her happy expression in his memory.

  
“That’s dad all right,” she chuckled at him.

  
“Oh, I met Alden and Cyrus at the orphanage as well,” Claude added. 

  
Byleth gave him a surprised look. “Elias took you there too?”

  
“Yeah,” he nodded. “He thought that the reason you bonded so easily with Cyrus and Alden had something to do with the dreams." 

  
"Well...perhaps." Byleth fidgeted a little in her seat before looking up at him. "Have you seen them as well?"

  
She meant in his dreams. The children she had seen. Claude shook his head. "To be honest, I haven't. Like I said, I could only see you in my dreams," he smiled wistfully at her, "but the first time I laid my eyes on them, I did have a feeling that I knew them somehow…and a strange desire to...how can I say this, protect?"

  
Byleth smiled at him. "They're good kids."

  
"They are," he chuckled, "and related to those dreams or not, I would have liked them regardless. The amount of questions they ask is brutal though."

  
"Well, that's just the tip of the iceberg…" Byleth smirked. They spend the next fifteen minutes or so talking about the two boys that managed to take a special place in the recesses of their minds. Even if the encounter was brief for Claude, he couldn't deny that they had left an impression on him.

  
They finished dinner not long after and moved over to the living area, snuggling close to one another, enjoying the presence and closeness that both had missed.

  
"Can you turn off the light?" Byleth whispered to him.

  
"Oh, right." He did, and the apartment was engulfed in darkness save for the lights of the night, twinkling in like makeshift stars. This was something Claude had admitted to her a while ago he liked to do. Since living in a metropolitan area made it difficult to see stars thanks to the city lights. When things got overwhelming for him he liked to turn off all the lights in his house and bask in its complete darkness, looking out of his viewing range and pretending that the night lights were stars. It helped him relax and refocus his mind. Byleth was keen to share this little hobby of his with him.

  
She snuggled close to him once more and let out a satisfied sigh as Claude put his arms securely around her. They both enjoyed a few moments of quiet tranquility, watching the glistening night lights.

  
Claude let out a heavy exhale before speaking. "As much as I love this moment of peace with you, I think it's time to address the elephant in the room."

  
Byleth hummed back and pushed herself up from his hold so she met his gaze, a knowing look on her face.

  
"How long are you able to stay this time?" Claude asked. It was a question that had been nagging in his mind since she appeared before him that evening, but he had evaded voicing it out, terrified of what he would find out. Sometimes, not knowing was bliss.

  
"Not long," she replied. He expected that answer. Nevertheless, he felt his heart drop all the same.

  
"It might just be tonight. I don't know exactly when I'll disappear but...I can feel it," she brought a hand over her chest, "something within me calling for me. I don't know who or what. This happened before… when I disappeared the first time."

  
She looked at him with her glassy blue eyes. "I'm sorry…" she muttered quietly.

  
Claude reached for her face. "By, like I said, you have nothing to be sorry for," he told her, giving her his own reassuring smile despite his broken spirit. "Why now?" he asked. "How did you…?"

  
"I'm not sure myself," she shook her head. "I remembered finding myself suspended in an empty white space. Sometimes I was awake. Sometimes I slept and dreamed. And sometimes I would hear voices...coming from outside. I realized after a while that it was the voices of those next to me...or rather my body." She gave a rueful smile. "The next thing I knew I found myself here, in your empty apartment. I remembered you were at the hospital earlier in the day so I decided to wait for you."

  
Claude's gaze softened at her. "You are always so patient, aren't you."

  
Byleth leaned into his touch, a puzzled smile on her face.

  
"I met Sothis earlier," Claude muttered, answering the question she didn't say out loud.

  
"Wait. what?!" she blinked at him, her surprise imminent. "Where and how exactly?"

  
"Well…" he began, albeit a little unsure, "I don't know how exactly but I remembered being in your room at your desk when I suddenly blacked out and found myself in her...what was it again? Domain? A dark empty space except for her throne?"

  
"That sounds about right," Byleth nodded, her face turning pensive. "I wonder why she suddenly wanted to meet you."

  
"I wonder why as well. But she did answer some questions for me." Claude told her. "When I was going through your journal, I was curious as to why you saw alternate timelines of the same reality and she told me that was because part of her ability manifested in you, why you were able to reverse time."

  
His eyes turned forlorn. "But it gave you an immortality that you didn't desire and you outlived everyone. Each time, you had to wait 1000 years until you were able to return to the point before your powers manifested and start a different route over again. And it wasn't until the third time you had to go through that, that you managed to be free from your immortality, but…"

  
"But I lost you, didn't I…" Byleth's face shifted in a sadness that mirrored his. "I...I don't think I had dreams of the thousand years of waiting, but it made sense I suppose. There are many, many moments when I was still a professor in those dreams where I felt a sense of nostalgia as I dreamt of a certain sequence of events."

  
"Do you wish to remember?" Claude asked.

  
"No," Byleth's response was quick and immediate with no sign of hesitation. "I can't imagine the pain of waiting for you for hundreds of years. I thought twenty-nine years was long enough."

  
Claude reached out for Byleth, pulling her close to him, their faces merely a few centimeters apart. "I won't ever let you go again," he whispered, "you know that, don't you?"

  
"I know," Byleth's eyes darkened, varying emotions overflowed from them, "I kept those words of yours close to my heart like a prayer."

  
Claude's breath hitched as he felt something within him break. In one swift motion, he crashed his lips on hers, hot and needy. The action caught Byleth by surprise for a second but it didn't take long for her to respond to him with equal fervent. 

  
It was an exchange of passion, a manifestation of desire. But for Claude, it was largely his way of letting her know that he was there for her, he understood her struggles. He was willing to shoulder her pain if only he was able to. They let their lips clash, tongues dancing and hot breaths intertwining as the kiss slowly built up the fire within both of them, hot and scorching, a juxtaposition to the winter outside.

  
Claude pulled back first, only to catch his breath briefly. His jade eyes were hooded and dark as he took in her face, porcelain skin now rosy, coated with her wanting gaze that never failed to stir something within him.

  
"You lead, I follow," Claude breathed. "Tonight, we'll do whatever you want."

  
"I want to be close to you as much as possible," Byleth replied with a husk in her voice, "I want my mind to only be filled with thoughts of you for the rest of the night, make up for lost time and- " 

  
"Make up for lost time?" Claude cut her off with a low growl, stopping her from saying what he knows she would say.

_  
And the time that we may not have later. _

  
He frowned. He didn't want to think of the possibility of that. Not at all.

  
He pushed her down onto the sofa and hovered over her, taking in the curves of her form and basking in the sultry look of her gaze.

  
"Let's do that then," he said, and planted a hungry kiss on her lips once more.

\---

They started in the living room, their clothes strewn all over the space as they lost themselves in a heat of passion. The last time they did this, right before Byleth disappeared, she had held onto him so closely like she never wanted to part from him. Now that he knew the extent of the truth and her circumstances, he understood why she did so. Because now, he was the one who held her tight and close, if only he could meld with her body and soul.

  
He sat on the sofa, naked and leaning against the backrest as Byleth straddled him and moved herself down along his erect shaft that brimmed with all his desire for her. Claude let out a strangled groan as he felt her warmth enveloping him, tight and hot, his eternal nirvana. He watched her closely, never taking his sight away from her, as his lover undulated on top of him. He watched in awe, ingraining every detail of her as much as he could--her fluid motions and the way her curves bounced along with her movements oh-so-deliciously. He reached out for a supple breast and squeezed, making her tilt her head back and moan as he bucked into her deeper. A gasp and another moan and her movements picked up pace, growing more frantic.

  
"I love you so much, By," he whispered, peppering her sweat-slicked form with feathery kisses as his hands roamed and toyed with her more sensitive parts.

  
They both found their releases close to one another and Claude wasted no time after that to carry her to their room bridal style, placing her on the bed and beginning to pleasure her once more. They made love again, and again. They lost count as to how many times, letting only their bodies and desires take them as far as they were able. 

  
The crack of dawn had just surfaced when they finally decided that they were sated enough and settled to snuggling on the bed, Claude wrapping a strong arm around her and held her close to him, breathing in the scent of her hair and relishing the warmth of her body as they quietly watched the sky change colors through the bedroom window.

  
"You're not going to sleep?" he heard her ask, "you must be exhausted from the day before."

  
"Not if you're going to disappear on me when I do," he murmured into her hair. "I'm going to stay awake and make sure you are here with me."

  
He heard her sigh. "You need to rest, love."

  
"No," he argued, "I need you in my life."

  
She turned around so she was facing him this time, a wistful smile on her face. She placed a hand on his chest.

  
"I'll be with you always, in here. As long as you are willing to hold me close."

  
He took hold of her hand and placed a kiss on her knuckle. "That is not even an argument. I've done that even before I met you."

  
She gave a small laugh and he couldn't resist reaching out and caressing her beautiful face.

  
" _ Hayati _ , we'll always be together no matter what, even beyond life itself," he whispered, low and tender.

  
" _ Hayati _ ?" she asked.

  
"My life," he answered and in the dimness of the room, he could see faint hints of a blush blooming across her cheeks.

  
"That sounds about right," she smiled. " _ Hayati _ ."

  
Claude felt his heart do a jumpstart as the word left her lips. She even took care and tried to pronounce the little nuances of the word that he knew were difficult to achieve with a foreign tongue.

  
Byleth Eisner was the most perfect human being in Claude's eyes.

  
"You're going to get better and we'll live our future with one another from then on," he told her. "You'll undergo surgery on Monday and be under the care of the best doctor in Almyra, possibly the world."

  
"How did you manage to know such a person?" she asked.

  
"Well…" he began, "there's one thing I haven't told you. But since your family already know, you should probably know about this as well."

  
So he filled her in on the one thing he hasn't told her yet, of the truth in his lineage and the reasons behind the need for his secrecy. Somehow, she wasn't surprised, judging by the collected reaction he received from her, and that fact didn't surprise him either.

  
"Have you always known somehow?" he asked her, curious at her

  
"No," she replied, "but considering who you were in our dreams, this revelation feels more like a deja-vu rather than new information to me."

  
"You've got a point there," he chuckled, "come to think of it, a lot of things in this life now are similar to the ones in our dreams. Do you think it's why we were reborn in this particular lifetime?"

  
"Maybe," she replied quietly.

  
"Do you think it will be the same as well, should we be reborn again?"

  
"I don't know…" Byleth muttered, "but I hope this would be the last for me."

  
Claude frowned at her morbid-sounding tone. He did not expect those words to come out of her mouths.

  
"...Why?"

  
"If I have to be reborn only to have these powers again, then I'd rather not," she admitted to him firmly. He felt the hand on his chest curling into a tight fist. "I want to be free from knowing too much, from being haunted with the things I can only see and by the past and the present. I...I want to be normal."

  
At the crack of her voice, Claude pulled Byleth towards him and held her close, rubbing soothing strokes across her back all the while.

  
"You're terrified...aren't you?"

  
"For as long as I could remember…" Byleth murmured into his chest. "Am I strange? Am I ungrateful? I think people would kill for immortality, would want to be able to see things that the naked eyes couldn't see and here I am, wishing to be free from them. I want to be in a place where I am powerless and happy."

  
Claude's eyes narrowed and his hold around her tightened. It was truly unfair how often, it was the most incredible people who had to shoulder the heaviest weights. Then again, it was perhaps those struggles that had transformed them into the people they were.

  
Claude suddenly remembered the words of a particular "goddess".

  
"You're not any of those, By," Claude murmured softly into her hair, "humans are feeble, we are not created to harbor the powers that you have. So for wanting to break free from them, that just shows how human you are and that you are normal. And the fact that you've withstood all the struggles you faced with resilience and grace? You're so strong By, and I really mean it."

  
He felt Byleth's shoulder relax, the tension in her form disappearing. "That...actually did make me feel a little better," he felt her smile against his chest, "thank you Khalid. If anything, the one I don't want to let go of from this whole thing is you. I'm glad that my heart goes to you each time."

  
"I think our bond is separate from whether you have your powers or not," Claude remarked softly, "I'll find you again and again. Always. No matter what our circumstances would be."

  
Byleth pulled back slightly from his hold, just enough so she could tilt her head back to look up at him. "I love you Khalid."

  
"I love you too, my star," he replied. A sudden wave of drowsiness suddenly overcame him and Claude failed to stifle a yawn.

  
"Go to sleep, love, you have a great new week ahead of you to prepare for, don't you?"

  
Claude shook his head. "No, I want to be with you." He said, but he could feel his eyelids starting to droop.

  
In his grogginess, he felt her warm lips on his, chaste and soft. "I'm always with you," she breathed against his lips, "in your waking moments and in your dreams. Even if you can't see me."

  
That was the last thing he remembered her saying before sleep finally overtook him.

\---

It was past noon when Claude woke up and found himself alone in his bed. His face fell as he stretched out his arm to the empty spot next to him on his bed.

  
He could still smell the faint traces of her scent. But he knew he would be the only one in the apartment.

  
He sat up and massaged his temple for a few seconds. Did he dream about everything that had happened last night?

  
He turned to his side-table for his phone…

  
...and found a single white lily placed by it that he knew he did not place there before. There was a small piece of paper next to it. He reached out for it along with the flower.

_  
Good luck on your new dawn, Prince Khalid. I believe in you. _

  
He smiled tenderly at the note and then shifted his gaze to the flower, the single real proof of Byleth's presence last night.

  
It would be a new dawn, and one that he would hopefully be able to share with her for years to come.

\---

\---

_Sometimes you wonder if this fight is worthwhile  
The precious moments are all lost in the tide, yeah  
They're swept away and nothing is what is seems  
The feeling of belonging to your dreams_

_ \- Listen to Your Heart, Roxette _


	14. Prayer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter and the last, I would like to remind you all of the Major Archive Warning that has been set for this fic.
> 
> The verses used at the end of this chapter is the English translation of Lena Park's Inori.
> 
> This chapter is quite heavy so please, sit back, get something comforting with you. And let's go through this ride together.

**_Monday, early morning._ **

_  
Knock knock. _

  
"Enter," Claude heard a firm voice from the other side of the door.

  
He opened the door and stepped into a spacious and minimally-decorated office. In the center of the room, sitting by her glass work-desk and focused on her monitor, was the leading woman of Garreg Mach Rhea. Claude took a deep breath before walking in and closing the door behind him. Meetings with Rhea were among his least favorite things to do and meeting her privately first thing in the morning was, well, a lot to take. But he had requested this out of his own volition and he needed to do this.

  
"Morning Rhea, thanks for agreeing to meet with me first thing in the morning."

  
"It's fine, Claude," the woman replied, prying her attention away from her monitor and shifting her focus onto him. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you in private as well, so your timing is perfect."

  
Claude perked up at her words. "Oh? What about?"

  
Despite his calm demeanor, Claude couldn't help feeling his heartbeat quickening. More often than not, when Rhea had called up someone to her office for a private meeting, it would often be her reprimanding them in her ruthless way...or terminating their contracts in the worst case scenarios. Claude began to rack his brain for any mishaps he may have done recently.

  
"Have a seat, Claude," Rhea said, gesturing to the empty chair across her.

  
Claude took his place and sat down. He cleared his throat before speaking. "So, uh, what do you want to talk to me about?"

  
"You don't want to discuss the issue you had in mind first?"

  
"I'd rather you go first," Claude insisted.

_  
Just so I can gauge how deep in trouble I am before revealing all my cards. _

  
"Very well," Rhea replied. He saw her sharp eyes scanning him and he felt himself straightening more under her gaze. "You can relax, you’re not in any trouble. What I wanted to discuss is a matter of personal nature rather than business.”

  
Claude blinked at her. Personal? What kind of personal matter could he possibly share with Rhea?

  
“My grand-daughter,” she spoke, as if reading his mind. “I believe you are familiar with Byleth and her...situation.”

  
Oh right, Byleth. Their one common link. He almost forgot that Rhea was related to her. But wait, if Rhea knew that he was familiar with Byleth then that meant…

  
“Um…” Claude began, “what did Sitri tell you?”

  
“Several things,” the Garreg Mach CEO replied, her face void of discernable emotions, “I may not be close to my daughter’s family but they are still my kin. And I do follow the condition of my grand-daughter closely because…” she trailed off and Claude noticed the downcast shift of her face, “she got into her accident after she met me here at Garreg Mach.”

  
Claude’s breath hitched at the back of his throat. “..She was here?”

  
“Yes,” Rhea answered, “I had invited her to see if she would be interested in a teaching position in one of the institutes. She seemed to be quite keen and admittedly, I was looking forward to being able to work with my grand-daughter and to connect closer with her. The accident was a difficult blow to all of us."

  
Claude clenched his fists on his lap. Not again. How often did their lives circle around each other's in the past? And yet they were only able to meet now?

  
"I was informed of her deteriorating condition last week and I called Sitri last night asking if they would consent to her transfer to Garreg Mach Hospital, now that she's stable enough to be moved least. To my surprise, she told me that they had a new specialist assigned to her; and not just anybody, but one of the best neurologists in the world,” she paused for a second, throwing him a pointed look, “and someone whom I am aware primarily works for Almyra’s royal family.”

  
Claude remained silent as he took in Rhea's analyzing gaze. He should say something now. He really should. Yet he wasn't sure how or where to start.

  
Thankfully he didn't have to as Rhea began to speak once more. 

  
"I have two things that I want to say to you," she said. "First, thank you, Claude. For Byleth and Sitri. I appreciate the initiatives you've taken for them."

  
"I uh…" Claude managed to let out. He cleared his throat before continuing. "You're welcome, I guess? I just did something that I needed to do for myself, that is all."

  
"Well, whatever it was that drove you to do so, I am very grateful," Rhea remarked, flashing him a small smile. "The second thing I want to say is a question."

  
Claude swallowed a nervous lump in his throat.

  
"Did you happen to know Byleth the same way that she knew you? Through the dreams you had?"

  
Claude's eyes widened. “...She told you about her dreams?”

  
“She brought it up during the meeting we had, yes,” Rhea nodded. “I think she did that to see if I may have recognized the man that she had visions of. When she told me of him, I had my suspicions on you based on her descriptions but I kept silent because I couldn’t be sure that you’re him.”

  
He couldn’t help a scowl. “Why not?”

  
“We had worked together for a while; you didn’t strike me as someone who would believe in such superstitious things nor did you seem to be perpetually in search of someone. I suppose at times my assumptions can be a little off.”

  
“Yeah, sorry to defy your expectations” Claude chuckled. “But no, you were right. I never believed in anything spiritual before. Even when I had those dreams, I wasn't entirely sure whether Byleth was real; not enough for me to go out of my way and search for her…" he gritted his teeth as he paused, suddenly finding himself overwhelmed with a feeling of regret and guilt, angered at his own passivity and especially now that he knew how devoted Byleth had been in her search for him. Would things change if he had looked for her? Would they have found each other and discovered their happiness earlier? 

  
"But I guess now, somewhere along the way….Byleth has made me a believer...of fate and destiny at least," Claude continued, "and I will do anything in my power to have her back in this world again."

  
That was a confession weighed with a little too much emotion and vulnerability than he would like to show in front of Rhea, but restraint was not a priority where Byleth was concerned.  
  
  
Rhea eyed him in silence for a few silent moments. He felt a slight prickling at the back of his neck. It was one of her looks that made him feel as if she was analyzing the deepest recesses of his mind. "Very well, I truly hope and pray your endeavor will bring about a silver lining to all of us," she remarked. She leaned back slightly into her chair and folded her arms across her chest. "Now, let’s move on to what you came to me for.”

  
“You don’t want to ask me any more questions regarding Byleth?” Claude asked.

  
“Our time slot is limited and I’ve asked what is necessary,” Rhea replied, “as for the questions to which the answers I can’t fill in by myself, I assume they will be covered in the conversation that you will be bringing to the table?”

  
The corner of Claude’s lips tilted up slightly. “Well, you weren’t called the queen of intuitions for nothing.” He placed the black folder that he had been carrying in his hand on her desk. “I have several proposals for Leicester’s Institute that I wanted to put into effect immediately if you approve.”

\---

\---

**_11 a.m, Garreg Mach HQ main conference hall_ **

  
Claude tapped his foot nervously against the carpet underneath as people began to stream into the conference hall. After his discussion with Rhea, she had proposed to hold an immediate meeting with all the core staff of the project to inform them of the changes that are happening and to get them onboard.

  
He knew this would happen. This was what he expected. Regardless, he found himself jittery all the same. After all, he was about to reveal a part of him that he had kept hidden for the majority of his life. 

  
But with it out in the open, the obstacle that hindered him from achieving what he truly wanted in life would be alleviated.

  
"That is about everybody, " remarked Seteth, Garreg Mach’s Chief Operating Officer and Rhea’s trusted right hand in company affairs. “Shall we proceed, Rhea?”

  
“Yes, let’s begin,” she nodded, scanning the room with her gaze. Claude followed suit, looking around the room and seeing the curious looks on the faces of his colleagues and friends.

_  
Well, here goes nothing. _

  
"Good morning, everyone," Rhea spoke, her tone composed yet carrying a note of authority. The chatter in the room descended into silence and all attention was turned on her. "I thank you all for making time and rearranging your schedules for this meeting. I know this is quite last-minute but it is a discussion of great importance.”

  
She paused briefly, taking in the expressions of everyone in the room.

  
“As you all know, the Garreg Mach Institute Project has been well on its way to realization, three schools are currently in its finishing stages of construction in three different states of Fodlan. Once they are completed, we will commence the operation of three secondary schools specializing in STEM education, at affordable fees and guaranteed scholarships to high-scoring applicants as part of our CSR initiatives. Not only that, we have also managed to get notable companies and organizations within Fodlan, as well as our neighboring countries, involved in this initiative. This topic is what this meeting pertains to... we have just received an agreement from our most profound collaborator.”

  
“Oh, that is promising,” Dimitri chimed in from his seat, “who is it?”

  
Rhea flashed a small, proud smile to the entire group. “The Royal Family of Almyra.”

  
Gasps and murmurs immediately broke out across the room. Claude could feel several eyes on him.

  
“Is this really happening?” Edelgard asked, surprise etched on the normally collected woman.

  
“Claude, you sly dog, why didn’t you tell us your connection goes up that high?” he heard Sylvain exclaim.

  
“Claude, you have  _ got _ to tell us how you managed to secure this deal,” Hilda remarked, gushing excitedly all the while.

  
He only gave them a nervous smile, and the knowing looks that Nader and Judith threw at him from across the table did nothing to ease his nerves.

  
“Now that you all know, you understand why this meeting was of urgent nature. A collaborator of such high caliber is definitely unprecedented and unexpected. And with that, I will be handing over the meeting to the person responsible for this joint venture, our own lead for Leicester-Almyra division, Claude von Riegan.”

  
There were small cheers and claps as the attention of everyone in the room shifted to him. Claude allowed the commotion to carry on for a few more seconds before he cleared his throat, cueing the crowd in the room to revert back to silence.

  
“Okay so, first of all, good morning everyone and thank you all for coming to this meeting, as abruptly scheduled as it was,” he began. “As you all know, the institute that will be built in Leicester is also intended to harbor an educational partnership with Almyra. It’s a forge of ties that comes with multitudes of benefits for both parties, Almyra being Fodlan’s main source of oil and gas import and Fodlan as one of Almyra’s biggest various trading partner regions. To harbor another type of partnership between the two nations is an extremely strategic move, and as someone who hailed from the two regions, I am more than delighted to be assigned the responsibility to facilitate that in this company.”

  
He paused for a few seconds, collecting his thoughts before commencing to speak once again.

  
“What our team has managed to obtain so far has been within our scope of visions. Experts from Almyra along with several of their technology are to be incorporated in the schools. But I have a bigger, personal vision. Aside from the educational aspect, I want the youth of both countries to explore the diversities of each other’s regions.”

  
He pulled up his laptop and turned on the wall screen that hung at the end of the conference room. As the screen blared to life, charts and numbers appeared before all of them.

  
“Money was the single obstacle to this plan but no more. With the funding of Almyra's Royal Family in this initiative, the Leicester Institute will be hosting a senior year exchange program as an opportunity for students to study directly in Almyra. Travels will be entirely covered and stipends will be provided for students who come from struggling families. This program will be open not just for students enrolled in the Leicester branch but in the other two states as well."

  
Claude looked around the room, noticing several wide-eyed stares at the sum written on the screen.

  
"In addition, the Royal Family would like to form a partnership with Garreg Mach to establish a community school and college to be made accessible for everyone, especially those who are financially compromised. We’re thinking of having them built in the outskirts of Remire, where it will be within range of impoverished neighborhoods but also Garreg Mach, to ease transportation of learning material and commute should any of the professors and teachers need to travel between the two places.”

  
“We?” Hubert asked, “so I assume you’re already part of this project as well?”

  
“I better be,” Claude grinned, “after all, I’m the one appointed by the Emir himself to oversee the development of this initiative.”

  
More murmurs broke out within the room.

  
“O-kay Mr. Big-shot, enough mysteries,” said Dorothea this time, “will you  _ please _ tell us how you managed to convince the Almyran royals for our cause and why you have been assigned by the Emir himself for such a role? What exactly are you in Almyra?”

  
Claude let out an exhale.  _ Okay, this is it. No more stalling. _

  
“It didn’t require any convincing, after all it has been something the Emir wanted...along with his third wife and their son.”

  
“Third wife?” questioned Lysithea, "I didn't know he had other wives apart from the one who recently had passed."

  
"He had three, in fact, but outside of Almyra the first wife is the only one well-known to the public, and the third wife's identity was kept low profile in general because, well, she's a Fodlanese and of a prominent family." He propped up a hand on the elongated conference table and leaned his face against his palm, feigning a casual demeanor despite his increasing nervousness. "Her name is Tiana von Riegan. Or as I'd like to call her, my mother."

  
"WHAT?!"

  
In retrospect, the scandalized look that he managed to bring out from his colleagues and friends made all the stress he felt worthwhile. Especially seeing Lorenz's gaping face.

  
"Claude…are you seriously saying that you are one of the crown princes of Almyra?" asked Edelgard, a mixture of disbelief and astonishment clear on her face.

  
He smirked. "I guess a reintroduction is in order." Claude stood up from his seat and walked to one end of the conference table. Rhea had conveniently scooteed herself to the side so Claude was directly standing in direct sight of everyone in the room.

  
" _ Ahlan _ , I'm Claude von Riegan but in Almyra I'm known as Khalid bin Ehab," he placed his right arm over his chest and took a small dip of a bow to the room. "And I'm the fourth son of the current Emir of Almyra, King Ehab."

\---

\---

**_1 p.m, Claude’s office_ **

  
Claude plopped down into his chair heaved a sigh of relief.

  
That was it. His biggest secret, out in the open. Oddly enough, it wasn’t as painstakingly difficult to reveal as he thought it would be. After the initial shock, no one in the meeting with him seemed to take the news badly. He even wondered what he was so afraid of in the first place, aside from the potential backlash against his mother and the von Riegan family for the circumstances of her marriage. But even that concern was watered down by none other than his mother and his uncle, Geoffrey, who told him that Tiana’s marriage is not a big issue anymore since Oswald’s passing. After all, his grandfather was the one who opposed the marriage the most. But now that he’s gone and with a significant amount of time that has passed since the actual wedding, to quote his uncle:

  
“Perhaps it is time for the truth to find its light at last. With globalization and our increasing need to establish stronger relations with Almyra, I don’t see how this can affect our ties negatively. Besides, people are much more open-minded now and they will understand if we inform them properly.”

  
Yeah, Geoffrey is pretty dope. Claude was glad he’s the current head of the von Riegan family.

  
When news of the fact that Geoffrey’s nephew is an Almyran crown prince spread, there will be reporters trying to reach out to him for sure. Claude was ready to face them and give them answers. That wasn’t an issue.

  
What weighed on his mind the most was something else... 

  
“Claude,” he heard a voice call him. Claude looked up to see Lorenz standing by his door, Hilda next to him. “Here’s all the updated financial statements from Hubert.”

  
“Oh great, thanks,” he replied, “you can place them on my desk.”

  
Lorenz and Hilda walked into the room simultaneously.

  
“Also, Sylvain wants me to tell you to schedule a meeting with the media and communications team and prepare to address the press regarding all of this,” Hilda told him as she stopped by his table.

  
“Got it,” Claude nodded. “...Hey guys...can I ask you something?”

  
“Go ahead, leader-man,” Hilda replied. Claude couldn’t help but smile at her use of the all-too familiar nickname.

  
“...Will this change how you see me now? Now that my secret is out?”

  
Lorenz and Hilda looked at each silently for a few seconds before shifting their attention back to him.

  
“Do you want us to treat you differently? Acknowledge your royal status more openly?” Lorenz raised an eyebrow at him.

  
“No,” Claude quickly shook his head, “that’s the furthest thing from what I want you all to do. Who I am in Almyra...doesn’t really apply in Fodlan, and as for the wealth that comes with my lineage, well...my father has a strict principle of making his children understand the concept of hard work and not to get by in life with the family’s wealth. Be the leaders who exist for the people, he says. He strictly kept each of the royal children’s stipend away from us once we are all able to find our own employment, and we can only access them for diplomatic or social welfare purposes.”

  
Lorenz’s eyes widened. “Wait, don’t tell me that the sum of money you showed us earlier was…”

  
“My collected reserves? Yep,” Claude gave him a smug grin.

  
Hilda let out a whistle. “Wow, Almyra is really living up to its title as the richest nation on the globe.”

  
“And as the fourth son of the third wife who is Fodlanese, I can assure you I am worth the least among baba’s children. And now, I guess I'm worth the least historically.”

  
“Yeah well, that doesn’t matter to us,” Hilda said, waving a hand in front of her.

  
“Royalty or not, you are still the colleague I want to strangle occasionally,” Lorenz pointed out.

  
"Really?" Claude asked, hopeful.

  
"You are aware of the kinds of people in our group of friends right? Our backgrounds are all so diverse, we come from all walks of life and yet all that didn't matter. Besides we've all speculated that you might be linked to someone of high importance in Almyra. We just didn't expect it to be  _ that _ high," Hilda remarked with a shrug.

  
"An unfortunate discovery indeed," Lorenz feigned a dramatic sigh and Claude scowled at the man's jab.

  
“We can’t speak for those outside of our group of friends but we can assure you that among us...you’re still the same Claude to us. Or Khalid. Whichever name you prefer,” said Hilda, a reassuring smile on her face.

  
At that, Claude felt a hefty weight lifted off his chest and his shoulder relaxed, the tension he didn’t realize he had been holding the entire time disappearing into thin air.

  
“Thanks guys...I have to admit, having all of you see me differently was one of my biggest concerns about all of this.” He scratched the back of his head. “I’ve been treated a little differently for who I am both in Almyra and in Fodlan by the people closest to me, but not from you guys which I truly appreciate and welcome...that’s why the idea of revealing my true identity to you all seemed more daunting than anything else.”

  
“You won’t have that from us, we can assure you that,” Lorenz nodded at him.

  
“Yeah,” Claude replied. He stared at his two closest friends, taking in the expressions they both had on their faces and sensing the honesty brimming from them. “Yeah, thank you both again. I know I should have never doubted all of you.”

  
“Have a bit more faith in us Claude,” affirmed Hilda.

  
“You bet I do,” Claude said with a grin. He patted the documents on his desk. “Anyway, if you don’t mind, I have to finish some work now. I’m leaving early today since I have to be in Remire later.”

  
“Paying your girlfriend a visit?” asked Lorenz.

  
Claude nodded. “She’ll be going through surgery tonight but hopefully things will look up from then on.”

  
“I see. I hope the procedure will go smoothly,” said Lorenz.

  
“Will be praying for her, Claude,” Hilda added.

  
Claude gave them his thanks and turned his attention back to his pile of pending workload once Hilda and Lorenz were out of his office. But before he could start, a sudden rush of drowsiness washed over him. He let out a yawn and looked at the clock displayed at the bottom of his screen.

  
It’s still half past one in the afternoon.

\---

\---

Byleth had said that her dream was to run a school where every child would have access to quality education regardless of their living situation. That still stands true until now.

  
However, that was also part of a lie.

  
In truth, what she truly wanted - her deepest wish - was much simpler than that.

  
She wanted a family of her own.

  
She wanted a small cozy house, somewhere in the suburbs. She wanted three children. Cyrus, Alden and a third that she would have with her husband. Preferably a girl so she would not be terribly outnumbered.

  
She wanted to cook for her family and be their source of comfort. She wanted to teach them the things she knew, take them on fishing trips and picnics out by the lake just like her own parents used to do. 

  
Byleth wanted to be the first one to greet her husband home with a smile after his long day at work. Her husband with beautiful green eyes and dark hair and the most charming smile. Her husband who was her source of comfort and the one person who understood her best out of anyone. A man she loved with all her heart and who made her feel like the most treasured woman in the world. A man named Khalid.

  
She wanted a future with him. She wanted a family with him.

  
It was a simple dream. Traditional as it seemed, unconventional in a modern society. But her life had always been unconventional and the grass was greener on the other side. She wanted a taste of normalcy.

  
Such a simple dream, yet so complicated to achieve in her case.

  
Byleth opened her eyes and found herself in a dark void. Oh, she knew what this place was. She immediately found the trail of light guiding her to a throne made out of stone, a young woman sitting proudly on it, staring back at her as she approached.

  
"Sothis…" she muttered.

  
"Hello, Byleth," the goddess replied.

  
Byleth closed her eyes, feeling something calling out for her somewhere deep inside her. She opened her eyes once more and looked up at the goddess with a pair of blue eyes filled with sorrow.

  
"Does it have to be now?" she asked. "He's trying so hard."

  
"You can not change what has been sealed by fate. You know that very well."

  
Byleth clenched her fists that hung by her sides.

  
"Can I at least talk to them?" she asked, a crack escaping her voice.

  
Sothis regarded her silently for a few silent moments. 

  
"Very well," she said finally, "I can at least give you that."

  
Byleth let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you." 

  
Despite that, she couldn't stop the tremors that were coursing through her body.

  
"This is our farewell, for good," Sothis began once more. "Do not be afraid. Where you will be heading is a happy place and you will achieve that end which you have been seeking all your life."

  
Byleth found herself surrounded by orbs of warm light.

  
"Goodbye, Byleth. And thank you for the journey. I had a lot of fun seeing what you saw.”

\---

_ **1.45 pm, Remire Hospital, ICU** _

  
"What's happening here?!" exclaimed a man in white coat, glasses and ash brown hair. When he burst through the door of room number seven, he was met with two frantic looking nurses.

  
"We're not sure. The patient suddenly went into tachycardia and we're still trying to find the cause. Her morning measurements earlier showed no signs of instability."

  
The doctor cursed under his breath.

  
"All right, we'll focus on regulating her pulse first. One of you, please run to my office and inform Dr. Amal. This is the patient under her charge. Her number is on my desk."

  
"Yes, doctor," one of the nurses nodded and immediately dashed out of the room.

  
The doctor ran to the side of the unconscious woman, feeling the pulse on her wrist and inspected her eye movements.

  
"Let's hope we don't have another close call again, Miss Eisner."

\---

\---

**_1.50 p.m, Eisners' Household_ **

  
Sitri was in the midst of washing the dishes when fatigue suddenly overcame her.

  
"Oh dear," she muttered to herself. Fearing her heart, Sitri immediately stopped her activity and turned to a nearby chair. She knew better, from past experience, than to force herself, especially when she was all by her lonesome in the house.

  
She sighed a breath of relief once she slid down into one of the dining chairs. She leaned back and closed her eyes, waiting for the sudden wave of tiredness to pass by…

  
...and found herself standing in an unfamiliar empty space. It was white all around her. It was silent, without a hint of sound. Was this a dream? Perhaps. Yet Sitri felt herself much too aware of her surroundings and reality for it to be a dream.

  
It felt strangely calm and serene, as if her thoughts were lifted away.

  
“Hey, mom,” Sitri heard a voice call her from behind. Sitri stilled, pausing even her breath to make sure she didn’t dream of hearing that voice. It was a voice she had been praying to hear once more for the past six months. She slowly turned around and let out a gasp, both her hands covering her mouth.

  
“...Byleth?”

  
Standing in front of her was her own daughter, looking exactly the way she had six month ago before the dreaded accident, standing tall, smiling back at Sitri and beautiful as always.

  
“Byleth... is that really you?” Sitri said shakily as she approached her. She reached out a trembling hand and felt the warmth of Byleth’s cheek on her fingertips. Byleth caught Sitri’s hand, holding it firmly in place.

  
“Yes mom, it’s me,” her daughter answered. “I missed you so much.”

  
Sitri felt her tears flowing down her own face, her chest exploding from happiness at being able to see her daughter once more. She pulled Byleth into a hug, relishing the feeling of having her little girl in her arms, well and alive.

  
“Oh my darling,” she sobbed, “you don’t know how often I’ve prayed just so I could talk to you once more.”

  
Sitri felt a tremble from Byleth along with a stifled sob. “I’m so sorry mom...for all the pain I’ve put all of you through for the past six months...I wished everyday that you could all see me as well.”

  
“Shh, it’s okay my love, it’s okay. You’re here, I can see you with me, and you have nothing to apologize for at all,” Sitri whispered, moving an arm along Byleth’s back to give her comforting strokes. They stood there for a while, holding each other tight, making up for all the lost time that they had while their tears acted as the only words spoken between them. The only words they needed.

  
Byleth pulled back first, wiping the tears away from her face. 

  
“Why am I able to see you now?” Sitri asked once she Byleth finally composed herself. There was a hopeful tone in her voice. She couldn’t help it. “Does this mean your condition is looking up?”

  
The look that Byleth gave her was mournful instead and Sitri felt her heart drop.

  
“I can’t go without saying goodbye first, mom.”

  
They were words carrying every parent’s nightmare. Sitri stilled, feeling her blood running cold. “No…” she shook her head, “no...honey what are you talking about? Goodbyes? No, that’s not right, you will live right?” Sitri held onto Byleth’s shoulders, “The vision I had of you, it did not happen yet, so you will still live right?”

  
Sitri noticed Byleth’s eyes becoming glassy once more, her body growing rigid in her hold. She was holding back her tears, that Sitri knew very well.

  
“Mom..” Byleth began, grabbing the hands on her shoulders and pulling them down so their hands remained linked in the space between the two of them. “..I want you to know that you are the best mother someone like me could ever ask for...thank you for endlessly supporting me, helping me and believing in me even during moments that are hard to believe.”

  
“No...Byleth...don’t speak like that..please,” Sitri begged as she began to sob harder.

  
“I was so happy, thanks to you. And I am happy now and will be forevermore, because I have you as a mother.”

  
Sitri felt her shoulders slackening, all the energy drawn out of her.

_  
And I am happy now and will be forevermore.. _

  
That was the vision she had of Byleth, the words that had given her so much hope all these time as she waited by her daughter’s hospital bed.

  
She didn’t see her daughter coming back to life. No, what she saw was her daughter’s last words to her all this time.

  
Sitri dropped to her knees and wailed into her hands. She felt Byleth crouch down in front of her and hold her tight as she cried her shock away. 

  
“Mom, look at me,” Byleth whispered. Sitri lifted her face from her hands and looked up reluctantly at Byleth. Byleth was smiling at her, tears flowing down her face. Sitri wanted so badly to stop those tears, if only her own heart wasn’t in shreds already.

  
“I will be going to a happy place, where I will be free of the pain that has been haunting me all this time. Please don’t be sad, I’ll live...only, I’ll be in a place where you can’t see me.“ Byleth reached out and wiped the tears away from Sitri’s face. “Please take care of yourself and live happily with dad and Elias. We will see each other again sooner than later, I can promise you that.”

  
Sitri let herself sob several more times before she regained enough composure to speak. “You are the best daughter any mother could ever ask for, darling…” she pushed a strand of Byleth’s hair behind her ear, “I love you with my entire life and more.”

  
Byleth smiled wistfully at her and Sitri tried to ingrain her face to the deepest recesses of her mind. 

  
“Me too.”

\---

**_Somewhere in Remire_ **

  
Jeralt pulled over to the side of the road as he felt his vision starting to blur. He was on his way back from a nearby supermarket, picking up several groceries Sitri had requested along with his favorite brand of cigarettes when he felt himself overcome with sluggishness. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temple, wondering what could have caused the sudden onset of tiredness.

  
And then he found himself suddenly standing in a strange place he had never been to before. Blank. Empty. Unreal.

  
Did he suddenly pass out? Fall asleep?

  
Jeralt pinched his face. It hurt. He could feel it. And yet the act itself did not wake him up. 

  
He heard a soft giggle coming from his right. It sounded familiar. He turned his head to his side and his jaws immediately slackened while his eyes widened in surprise.

  
“Byleth?!”

  
Byleth gave a soft smile at his direction. “Hi dad,” she greeted. “It’s been a while right?”

  
Jeralt ran towards her, staring her up and down with disbelief on his face. This was his daughter in the flesh. The one whom he last saw was lying on a bed, helpless and unconscious. She looked healthy, her face flush with color just the way he remembered her.

  
"How….is this a dream?" he ended up asking.

  
"Sort of…" Byleth replied with a nod. "But at the same time not. It's a little hard to explain and I know you hate delving too deeply into topics that can't be explained by logic."

  
"Yeah...I do. I already hate being in this situation right now," he answered with a chuckle. "But if it means I get to see you then I'll wade through the pain. Come here, pumpkin." He opened his arms and Byleth happily ran to him. The feeling of her slim arms around him and the way she snuggled her head against his chest like she would when she was a little girl only reminded Jeralt of how much he missed having his daughter around. This was a treasured moment, and yet there was an unmistakable pang in his chest.

  
"You've been finding your own happiness the past six months haven't you?" he whispered to the top of her head.

  
"I...yeah," Byleth admitted bashfully, her face muffled against his broad chest. She pulled back her head to look up at Jeralt. "Don't worry though, you're still my number one man. Forever."

  
"I better be kiddo," Jeralt scoffed playfully at her. "That Riegan kid may be a prince but no one can protect you like I do. And looking at him, I think I can easily beat the stars out of him in a few seconds."

  
"I have no doubt that you could, but I hope you wouldn't," Byleth raised an eyebrow at him.

  
"Only if he hurts my little pumpkin even in the slightest,” Jeralt told her.

  
They stared at each other silently for a few seconds before breaking into laughter simultaneously. He missed these moments with her. There was a strange way in which Byleth would understand his humor, a reason why he perhaps, secretly held Byleth a little closer to his heart than her brother. Or perhaps, it was the protectiveness a father has over his daughter.

  
They released their hold on each other as they both tried to calm themselves down from their respective hysteric states.

  
“There’s a reason why you decided to show up now, isn’t there?” Jeralt asked the moment he sobered up. Byleth gave a small, nervous smile at him, her eyes losing the vibrance that it had moments before.

  
“I’ll...I’ll be going ahead of you, dad. I’m sorry…” she said quietly.

  
A few seconds of silence passed between them before Jeralt let out an exhale.

  
“You expected this didn’t you?” Byleth asked.

  
A corner of Jeralt’s lips quirked up, rueful and melancholy. “I’m not as optimistic as your mother. Of course, I want you to recover and I will give everything I have if there’s a sure-fire way for that to happen. But in the end, I never dismissed that the worst case scenario can be an option down the line.”

  
He casted his gaze downwards, feeling his sight blurring and prickling stings growing in the corners of his eyes.

  
“It’s still painful to know, though. Never in my life did I expect to outlive my own kid.” 

  
As much as he had told himself that this outcome was a possibility for the past few months, it didn’t help in shielding him from the feeling of something being violently ripped off from his chest. There wouldn’t be anyone he could call his pumpkin anymore. Or anyone who would whole-heartedly laugh at his jokes. There wouldn’t be anyone who could fill the gaping hole in his heart that Byleth would leave behind.

  
He felt a pair of fragile hands grabbing one of his large, calloused one, breaking him away from his thoughts. He shifted his attention back to his daughter who was giving him a reassuring smile. It was a farce. He could sense deep down, she was scared, yet, Byleth refused to show it, never wanting anyone to worry for her.

  
It was a gentle kind of strength he also saw in Sitri. That's why he loved both of them with all that he was.

  
“I’ll be going to a wonderful place dad, free of the pain and stress at last.”

  
“Yeah?” Jeralt uttered, trying to manage a smile at her. "...Sounds great. You deserve that By, you've endured so much."

  
"I have a superhero father who taught me what it means to be strong," she replied.

_  
No, _ Jeralt thought in his head,  _ that strength is all you kid. I wouldn't know how to handle myself if I was in your place. _

  
"Hey dad…" Byleth continued, "thank you...for endlessly protecting and supporting me and for setting an example for me on the kind of things I should look for in a life partner. I.."

  
Byleth and Jeralt saw how her bright blue eyes were becoming moist. He placed his free hand on top of her head and smiled at her.

  
"You have been nothing but joy and pride for me kid," he began, "we'll be fine ….eventually. And I'll do my best to look after your mother, El too. And we'll carry on as best as we could, don't feel guilty Byleth."

  
His daughter gave a soft choke as she leaned forward and buried her face in his chest. He put his arms around her smaller frame and cradled her securely to him.

  
"I love you, dad," she whispered.

  
"I love you too, my little pumpkin."

  
He felt her warmth in his arms gradually fade away.

  
Jeralt couldn't hold back the tears from spilling out of his eyes anymore.

\---  
  
**_Remire Military School_ **

  
"Captain Eisner, here are the documents you requested."

  
Elias looked up from the paper he was reading.

  
"All right, thank you sergeant, please leave them on my desk."

  
The sergeant did as Elias told before turning around and leaving him behind in his office.

  
Elias turned to look at his watch. Two o'clock. He rubbed his eyes.

  
Why did he feel strangely tired? Was it the heat from the drill he did earlier? He had twenty minutes until his next class, a power nap might do him good for now.

  
The next thing Elias knew, when he opened his eyes, was that he was not in his office anymore. 

  
"Hey, El."

  
Amidst the emptiness, standing in front of him was the only other living being in the seemingly endless and expansive space he was in.

  
"By…" he breathed out. He smiled ruefully. "Has my mind finally started giving in to hallucinations?"

  
"Less of a hallucination, more of a visionary dream since I can't show up in front of you when you're conscious."

  
Elias quirked an eyebrow at her. "Finally decided to grace us with your presence huh, sis? I have to admit, I was a little bitter with your boyfriend for monopolizing your presence."

  
"It's not his fault," she rolled her eyes at him. "And despite that, you have been the one that helped him the most."

  
"I figured that's what you would want," Elias shrugged.

  
"It was.." Byleth nodded. "Thank you."

  
"Don't mention it," Elias replied. He took in his sister's appearance. She looked exactly the way he remembered her, silky blue hair, pale skin with hints of rosiness. "You're looking well, By…" he remarked, "did you really spend the past months with Claude?"

  
"I did," Byleth replied with a smile. "Despite what you all have seen….I've actually been doing pretty well. Happier than I've ever been in fact."

  
"That's...that's good to hear," Elias muttered. There were a few moments of silence as the two siblings looked at each other. Elias sighed.

  
"By, please tell me that I'm dead wrong...but you didn't decide to show up now because...it will be the last time you are able to..?"

  
The apologetic look on Byleth's face told him everything that he needed to know.

  
"Damn it By," Elias hissed. He would have punched a wall, or something of a similar deed, had there been any walls around. But he was suspended in an empty space and the only thing he found he could do was clench his fists tightly by his side. “For once, can you not do something so overly dramatic?”

  
Byleth couldn’t help a chortle. “Everything I do is spectacular. It’s a curse. Literally.”

  
“Shit," Elias cursed under his breath. "What about mom and dad?"

  
"They know already...I've met them in a similar manner."

  
"I see…" Elias muttered. "Well, at least I don't have to break the news to them."

  
"You have done enough for me El," Byleth chuckled. "In fact, I'm so glad that I was born as your twin. I don’t think we would have shared the closeness we did otherwise.”

  
“By, don’t get all sappy on me now, I beg of you,” Elias sniffled, finding his composure wavering and crumbling despite his best efforts to remain collected. Byleth moved towards him and planted her hands on his shoulders, giving him a sharp look.

  
“Let me have this El,” Byleth began once more. “You have been the best big brother a girl could ask for, and I’m letting you have this despite being only one minute older since I won’t be able to argue against your age supremacy claims anymore.”

  
Elias managed a snort.

  
“You’ve tried so hard to look after me in my moments of weakness and I cannot repay you enough for that. And I’m so lucky to have you as my brother and my best friend, those are all the honest truth. I love you El.”

  
“Gods By,” Elias pulled her towards him into a hug. More than anything, he didn’t want her to see him breaking down and being vulnerable.

  
They held each other tight for a few moments. Byleth was his first and longest friend, the only person who had known him from the womb and had shared twenty-nine years of life experience with him.

  
Twenty-nine years only.

  
Such a short time and they still had so much ahead of them. She would have so much to look for ahead of her had she lived. Securing her dream job. Marrying the person she loved. Normalcy was within her grasp and yet..

  
“Will we meet again...someday?” he asked reluctantly.

  
“There’s no doubt about that,” Byleth replied, pulling herself back from him. “But before that, I’ll be going ahead of you, Captain Eisner.”

  
Elias let out an exhale as he gazed at Byleth with a forlorn expression. "At least...you'll finally be free of your powers' grasp right?"

  
Byleth gave him a nod.

  
"It's what you've always wanted," he remarked, the corner of his lips tilting up. "This sucks. Big time. But I'll be fine later on."

  
He lifted a fist in her direction. "Love ya By."

  
Byleth bumped her fist gently against his.

  
And Elias found himself back by his desk in his office. 

  
It was a sunny late winter day outside, a stark difference to the downpour that Elias was feeling inside.

\---

\---

\---

Claude drew his arrow up to the sky, letting it fly up until the flashing red arrowhead disappeared from sight.

  
"That's how we win!" he exclaimed. Claude charged towards the mysterious large figure in the center of the field but before he could attack, he was pushed off by a brute strength that was definitely inhumane.

_  
Ugh _ , he thought to himself as he tumbled and rolled several times on the ground. He stopped after several tumbles and was glad he was more or less unscathed apart from the obvious pain. Was this a fluke? 

  
He turned his head in the direction of the large, dark figure when he heard the clashing of swords. Byleth, with her sea-foam green hair, armor and signature overcoat, clashing and evading the blows thrown at her by a towering dark figure in smooth, easy movements. The battlefield was definitely her dance floor.

  
Claude smirked to himself. 

  
There came a moment that seemed to carry out in slow motion. Byleth and her aggressor swung their mirrored blades at one at one another, the climax of the fight and the determiner of the battle to see who would come out victorious. But before their blades could clash, a large crimson arrow fell and pierced Byleth’s opponent in the arm, startling him off guard. That momentary distraction was enough time for Byleth to slash her sword across her enemy, shattering his sword and bringing him down, defeated.

_  
Perfect. Just as he had expected and planned.   
  
  
_ Cheers broke out amongst their soldiers as their enemies began to disintegrate and disappear. There were chants calling out Byleth’s name. He knew she disliked that - unaccustomed to being in the limelight that she was - and she would probably go on about a victory which was impossible to obtain without teamwork and trust. But he was fine acting as the shadow of a star who shone brilliantly.

  
Claude stood up, smiling proudly at her. It was a new dawn of Fodlan, there was no doubt about that. Byleth turned to him as she sheathed her sword. 

  
Claude felt his breath still momentarily.

  
Byleth stepped towards him, the dawn light filtering over her and surrounding her in a light that made her appear ethereal. But it was the smile on her face and the tenderness in her eyes that took Claude’s breath away. He had never seen anything more beautiful.

  
She stretched out a hand towards him.

_  
We did it Claude. Together. _

  
That was what the gesture spoke of. Had they been alone on their own, Claude would not have settled for a mere shake of hands. But their entire friends and army were watching them and this was as far as they were willing to show them.

  
Claude pulled out his own hand to meet hers.

  
But before their hands could touch everything became a hazy blur and Claude suddenly found himself standing in an empty white space. He looked down at himself and found that he had his work suit on instead of the golden outfit he normally wore in his dreams.

  
He frowned. This wasn’t a dream.

  
“Sothis?” Claude called out into the space. He wasn’t thrown into a dark void, but the endless white was blinding all the same. “Did you call me into your domain again?”

  
Silence. The only noise he could hear was his own breathing. He looked around for any signs of light trail that would lead him somewhere only to find none. He let out an annoyed sigh.

  
Great, what should he do now?

  
Deciding that standing around would lead him nowhere, Claude began to take a step forward. And halted in his tracks when he heard a voice call out to him.

  
“Hey, Khalid.”

  
He turned around quickly.

  
“By?”

  
There she was, standing a few steps away from him. Claude sprinted to her as if his life depended on it.

  
"What are you doing here?" he panted once he reached her, "Did Sothis bring you here too?"

  
She gave him one of her reluctant smiles. "Sothis didn't bring you here. I did."

  
"You?" he tilted his head. "Am I...in your consciousness right now?"

  
Byleth nodded. "Something like that."

  
"Why?"

  
He saw Byleth bite her bottom lip slightly as she looked down at the ground between them. Claude suddenly felt an unpleasant unease gnawing within him. He placed his hands on her shoulders. She shrunk slightly under his touch.

  
"By, please look at me," he said. She lifted her head slowly, her blue eyes meeting his. "What's wrong?"

  
A few seconds passed before Byleth let out a heavy exhale. She stepped forward and leaned her forehead against the crook of his neck. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him.

  
"This is so much harder than I thought," he heard her murmur.

  
"What is?" he asked.

  
"Leaving you," she replied in a low, raspy voice.

  
His breath stilled. "You're not going anywhere."

  
"But I have to," she uttered back. She lifted her head once more to look at him with a pair of melancholy-laden eyes. "I can't change destiny."

  
Claude shook his head. "No, Byleth, please tell me you’re not saying what I think you’re saying.”

  
Byleth lifted a hand and caressed a side of his face. “Time is not on my side this time around.”

  
Claude caught her hand and wound his fingers around hers, firm, possessive. Begging.

  
“We’re so close, By,” he choked, “our dreams...our future..I’m so close to making them happen. Please…” he whimpered, unable to ward off the brokenness he felt inside from his voice. “Stay with me.”

  
“I want nothing more than that, Claude,” Byleth muttered back, “I want to see you succeed, to be by your side through it all. I want..,a family of our own and a home that we created by ourselves.”

  
“I want all of those too By,” Claude cried, “every single one of them. That’s why, you can’t...don’t leave, please.” He paused, feeling his throat tightening and his eyes blurry from the tears that were threatening to spill out. “You’re the reason I’ve come this far....”

  
He felt a chaste warmth on his lips as Byleth placed a feathery kiss on him. But before he could respond, she had drawn herself back.

  
“You are the reason you have come this far and you will go further by your own strength," she smiled warmly at him but the glassiness of her eyes betrayed the curve of her lips. "And I'm sure you'll find your own happiness again somewhere along the line."

  
"Happy? Without you?” said Claude. He cupped her face with his hand. “Impossible.”

  
Byleth leaned into his touch. “Try.”

  
“Maybe I don’t want to.”

  
“Or you can try bringing happiness to others... then perhaps it will come to you eventually.”

  
Claude sighed. “I'll see about that."

  
A satisfied smile played across Byleth’s lips. Claude noticed her form starting to gradually fade away.

  
A single tear rolled down Claude’s face. 

  
“Will I still see you in my dreams?” he asked.

  
"Only if you want to," she replied.

  
"I do," said Claude without a hint of hesitation. He leaned down, meeting his forehead with hers. She felt abnormally cool against him. "I've said this time and time again but... I won't ever let you go."

  
He felt her shudder against him as she continued to vanish in front of his eyes. He held her close to him once more, salvaging what remained of her disappearing warmth.

  
"The next time we meet, we will be together again. Forever. I'm certain," Byleth whispered.

  
"Yeah?" Claude said in shaky breath, "I'm looking forward to that."

  
She smiled. "I love you Khalid. Now and forever."

  
"I love you so much, my star and my life. With everything I am."

  
They kissed, slow and tender, despite the time that they didn't have, despite the tears rolling down both their faces. They kissed for one last memory to remember, of what it was like to have the person they love the most in their arms. They kissed because words couldn't convey how much they meant to each other, the language of the heart was a poetry far too complex and far too abstract for words to decipher.

  
They kissed because neither of them wanted to say goodbye.

\---

Claude opened his eyes, finding himself in the confines of his office once more. His eyes felt moist. His body, heavy and lifeless. He felt hollow. He found it difficult to simply breathe, like an invisible weight was placed on his chest. Claude didn't know how long he had simply sat there in his chair and stared into nothingness. A few minutes? A mere few seconds?

  
He was brought back to reality through the sudden buzzing of his phone against his desk. He shifted his attention towards it. 

  
Elias' name flashed on the screen. Claude already knew the reason behind his call. He reached out for his phone regardless, his face void of expression and his green eyes dull.

  
"Hey…" he said flatly.

  
"Claude…" he heard Elias' voice from the speaker, hoarse and raspy. "It's Byleth. She…she didn't make it…"

  
"I know." Claude replied. "She came to me. To say goodbye."

  
"You too, huh?" said Elias. "I guess she came to all of us then."

  
"Yeah," was all Claude managed to say back.

  
"Will you still be coming here? We'll be starting the funeral proceedings as soon as possible."

  
"Yeah," he said. "I'll leave soon."

  
"Okay…" Elias replied. "I'm sorry."

  
"Me too," Claude muttered back. He hung up and placed his phone back on his desk. He slumped into his chai, finding himself unable to act.

  
It was a quarter past two in the afternoon.

  
And Claude had lost the sole reason for his heart to beat.

\---

\---

\---

Claude didn't shed a tear when he came to Remire and met the Eisners' broken expressions, couldn't say a word when he was given the opportunity by them to say a few last words of goodbye to Byleth in private. He was left staring at her lifeless body silently, feeling himself almost without a soul like her.

  
He didn't shed a tear as he watched her coffin being lowered into the ground the next morning. Didn't need to as the grey sky above him had cried on his behalf.

  
"Claude..." Sitri came to him later that day as he was preparing to leave and return to Garreg Mach. he funeral processions were over and there were seemingly no more guests who came over to pay their condolences. "I want you to have this."

  
Claude looked down at the object Sitri was holding. It was one of the framed photos of Byleth, of her smiling in a white dress with the ocean behind her.

  
"Elias told me that you did not have a single picture of her for you to remember her by. So I want you to have this one. You seemed to be immersed with it the last time you saw it."

  
He took the frame into his hands, staring at the image with dull and lifeless green eyes. "You sure?"

  
"Yes," Sitri nodded. "...Will you still visit us once in a while? Even after she's gone?"

  
"Of course," Claude managed to force the corners of his lips to tilt up. "Dr. Rami will still come to check up on you from time to time and I have future projects that will take place in Remire. You will see me often."

  
"That's wonderful to hear," Sitri smiled weakly. "Thank you for everything Claude."

  
"No, I'm the one who should be thanking you," Claude replied. "Please take care of yourselves."

  
"We will," Sitri gave him a nod.

\---

Claude arrived at his apartment in the early hours of evening. It was dark and lonely.

  
Just like the state of his mind.

  
He trudged aimlessly to his bedroom, placing the sole picture of Byleth that he had by his side table. It was then that he noticed a small black book lying on the study desk in his room.

  
He frowned. 

  
He hadn't seen that book in his house in a while. Granted, he hadn't been actively searching for it. He walked over to the desk and picked up the book, his gaze hovering over the simple crescent moon and falling star embellished on the cover. Claude felt a strange lump within the book. He pulled the pages open to the source of the unevenness.

  
He found a small, pressed white lily slipped within the pages towards the end of the book. Claude picked it up and read the text that it was lying on top of.

_  
Even on those freezing, stormy nights, _

_ Though you are still out of sight, I continue on. _

_ Please tell me, ocean-crossing winds, _

_ That my prayers will pass through time. _

  
Down at the bottom of the page written in Byleth's handwriting was:

_  
"I won't ever let go of you either, you know that don't you? _

_  
I love you. _

_  
Your star, _

_ Byleth" _

  
Claude dropped to his knees and wailed, finally allowing himself to succumb to the gut-wrenching sorrow that had pooled within him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'MSORRYI'MSORRYI'MSORRY
> 
> Before you decide to throw tomatoes at me for inflicting this angst...there's one more chapter okay...there's still hope. Let's go, shall we?


	15. Epilogue: Love Story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter of this journey at last. I want to say, thank you so much for all of you who have been with this story's journey since the beginning. I honestly couldn't believe I made it to the end but I did and it's all thanks to you! Special, special thank you to **aurics** once more who had been the best beta reader a girl could ask for and had spared time for this project despite her busy schedule.
> 
> I had several ways I wanted to end the story as I wrote this to be honest, and in the end I thought this ending was best for both of them. You may agree you may not agree. Regardless, I hope you have enjoyed this little story. 
> 
> Here's the finale to Autumn Cantata :)

_ Where do I begin  
To tell the story of how great a love can be  
The sweet love story that is older than the sea _

_ \--- _

**_Two years later_ **

  
"Boys! Hurry up! Jido and Nana's plane are about to land in half an hour!" Claude yelled into the house from the front door. He sighed and checked the time on his phone for the millionth time.

  
Seriously, what took them so long to get ready?

  
He heard rapid patters of footsteps running towards his direction.

_  
Finally. _

  
"Okay okay, we're done," an eight-year old boy with dark blue hair and fair skin grinned at him.

  
"Cool your horns  _ baba _ , we just want to look good," followed another eight year-old boy with dark hair and tanned skin.

  
Claude blinked at the two of them. "Why are you so dressed up?"

  
"Nana Sitri said we always have to look our best in the presence of a king," replied Alden with a shrug.

  
"Well, yeah," Claude scratched his head, "but that's only for formal occasions. Right now he's only visiting you as your Jido and we're only picking them up from the airport."

  
"Yeah, but we also have to look like we belong in the VIP airport," argued Cyrus.

  
Claude rolled his eyes. "What kind of things have you two been watching lately?"

  
"Got to learn high society stuff from somewhere since you're not teaching us that," Alden replied as the two boys headed over to the shoe rack and slipped on their pair of rather expensive-looking shoes that Claude remembered were gifted to them by Ehab and Tiana. Claude chuckled at that. He walked over to them and ruffled their hair.

  
“The royal life is not as glamorous as they make it seem to be, guys,” he told them.

  
“Perhaps,” Cyrus shrugged, “but we don’t want people to think of us less just because we’re not informed.”

  
Claude did a double take at the particularly mature yet slightly grim words that came out of Cyrus. He then remembered Elise’s words the years prior when he was signing the papers for Alden and Cyrus’ adoption.

_  
“Some children from orphanages harbor the fear of rejection, Cyrus and Alden in particular,” she told him. “They are both bright children and have gotten many interested adopters in the past but...they all fell out so quickly because no one wanted to take in both of them. They also had friends who had been “returned” to the center or who we had to take from their adopters because of neglect and unpreparedness to be caregivers for children.” _

_  
Claude winced at the thought of these children, happy to have finally found a family to call their own only to be abandoned again. He couldn’t fathom how anyone would do such a thing. _

_  
Elise sighed. “Adopting is a seemingly noble action but taking care of children is definitely full of challenges, mentally and financially. Aside from that, the bond between caregiver and child doesn't come as naturally as a biological parent-children relationship. It is a journey full of hurdles, but a worthwhile one when it works. I know you and the boys share an easy, close bond but do keep in mind that a part of them will always be wary of being ...disposable." _

  
Perhaps it was their fear of having him or any of his relatives think they were unworthy of being part of the family that pushed them to always appear, well, representative. He never demanded it from them nor did his parents, but he thought he understood. If he was suddenly adopted into royalty, he would be wary of people thinking that he didn't deserve the life he was granted.

  
But they really had nothing to worry about when it came to Claude. After all, the two boys had quickly become the center of his life now. And as for his family...

  
"Don't worry about that," Claude crouched down so he was at their eye level, "if anyone tried to create problems with you they'll have to answer to me first. And your Jido and Nana. And you know no one in Almyra can argue against your Jido."

  
The two boys grinned at his statement.

  
"And anyone who wants to create problems with you in Fodlan will have to answer to Jeralt and Elias. You have a lot of family now who will protect you and want you to be happy. You don't have to be anything but yourselves and I will support you no matter what, got it?"

  
Alden and Cyrus gave him a nod.

  
"Good," Claude said, patting their heads, "now come on. The airport is half an hour away. We better go now if we don't want to make them wait."

\---

\---

Moving forward after Byleth's death wasn't easy. To cope with the loss, Claude had thrown himself into his work. A month afterwards, Claude had completed every task that needed his presence with regards to the institution and decided to move on to the community school projects, a venture that was closer to his heart, leaving Lorenz in charge of overseeing the rest of the Leicester school's development.

  
A Garreg Mach remote office was established in Remire with Claude as its head of management. With his work focusing on Remire, he decided to buy a house in the suburbs there, a two storey, three bedroom house in a complex on the other side of town from the Eisners, but still more or less within reach from them. He would have preferred a smaller house for himself, but that house was the one immediately available in a location that fit his preference.

  
It worked out for him in the end, because with him being in Remire, Alden and Cyrus' orphanage was easily accessible to him. The first few visits he made, the three of them found solace and comfort in each other over the loss of Byleth from their lives. Eventually, he came to regularly visit to spend time in their company and found that such visits became the highlight of his week. Or day, as at some point he would even drop by to spend some time with the two after work to destress after a long day.

  
It was five months into this routine that Claude realized his house was too big to live in by himself and he saw the boys frequently enough that it would be much more convenient if they lived with him instead. His current position gave him enough scheduling flexibility that he could be present with the boys when they were home before and after school during the week. So he took that leap of faith and decided to sign adoption papers for the two of them. Claude wasn't sure what he wanted to be for the boys. Adoptive father? Older brother? Uncle?

  
In the end, he let the boys decide. Cyrus, who had always wanted another parental figure to replace the ones he had lost, did not take long to start calling  _ baba _ . Alden, who never knew how it felt to have parents, still called him Claude. He was fine with either since whatever they decided to call him, he shared equal affection with both of them and taking them under his care had been one of the best decisions he had made. They had made his days less lonely and more colorful.

\---   
\---

It was a year since the official launch of the schools. The schools had attracted many applicants and Claude was particularly pleased to hear many positive feedback from the exchange program. The community school projects were well underway in its development and execution. And outside of his work, Claude had the boys, the Eisners and his friends to fill up his personal time. His life had more or less picked up by now and he had given his best to bring forth happiness to those around him, just like he promised Byleth.

  
As for his own happiness? Well, he did try. A little bit after a year since Byleth was gone, at the insistence of pretty much everyone around him (even the boys), he tried meeting people once more. For three months he went on date after date. In the end he had given up on this endeavor because no matter what, it was still Byleth he ended up searching for. No matter how well the date seemingly went, what Claude wanted to do the most at the end of the night was to go to sleep and dream, to spend time with Byleth in his unconsciousness.

  
It was only two years after all. He still found himself mourning every single day. And on her death anniversaries, Claude found the day unbearably difficult to get through.

  
"Khalid," Claude heard his mother's voice call to him. He looked back to see Tiana heading towards his side in his house's front yard. Far off from inside the house, he could hear the booming laughter of Ehab followed by the boys'. "You hanging in there?"

  
"Yeah," he sighed, turning to see the orange, evening sky once more. "It's just...the day."

  
"I know, just like last year, right?" Tiana said, stopping to stand next to him and turning her gaze to the sky as well. "But you seem to be handling it better. Last year, well, it hurt me to look at you. I wished I could do something to ease your pain."

  
"It still hurts, I'm not going to lie," Claude replied, "but time has given me an opportunity to handle the pain better." He turned to Tiana. "Thanks again Ma, for coming this year as well, and being with the boys for tonight."

  
"Are you kidding me?" Tiana raised an eyebrow at him, "your father was practically jumping with excitement when you asked. You know how much he loves spending time with them."

  
Claude chuckled at the thought. "I'm really glad that you and baba manage to get along well with them." He scratched his head. "I know they're probably not the kind of grandkids you had in mind-"

  
Tiana waved a hand at his direction. "Stop with that already. If you love Alden and Cyrus like your own then your father and I will see them as our own grandkids without question. Besides," she glanced back to the open front door of the house where they were able to see Ehab running around the house with the two boys, "they're really good children. Your father and I, we truly care for them."

  
A soft smile broke across Claude's face. He felt himself extremely blessed and lucky to have supportive families around him.

  
That night, Claude drove off to Garreg Mach alone, leaving Alden and Cyrus behind under the care of Tiana and Ehab for the night. He did the same thing the year prior, spending the evening alone with his thoughts and the memory of Byleth in his old apartment. This year, he decided to take a little detour before welling in his sorrow in his old apartment.

  
He stopped by Garreg Mach's park. The park where he had first spent time with Byleth. In this life, anyway. 

  
Claude walked into the park, both his hands in his yellow hoodie. Winter had begun to recede around this time of the year but it was still cooler than Claude would have liked. He walked over to the bench that he had sat on with Byleth the first time. He slid down onto the seat, leaning back and looked up at the evening sky, listening to the quiet chatter of the park goers, the crickets and the gentle rustling of the night breeze.

  
Claude took out his phone from his pocket and pressed the power button, letting the screen light up and unveil a picture of Byleth that he had set as his phone wallpaper. It was a photograph of the framed picture Sitri had given him. The actual photograph he had left behind in Remire, placed by his dining table where she would be a part of his and the kids' regular daily routines in the morning and evening.

  
He grazed a thumb over her face, the light of her image reflected in his eyes, filled with longing.

  
"Hey, By," he murmured to the picture of her smile, "it's been two years. I hope you’re happy where you are now.”

  
He turned his attention back to the sky. “I miss you everyday, there isn’t a day that I don’t think of you.”

The corners of his lips quirked up. “I’m looking forward to the day I can be with you again, my love.”

Up in the dark, night sky, a single shooting star fell across the sky, towards the curve of the gleaming crescent moon.

\---

_ There'd never be another love, another time _

\---

***

\---

Claude had read stories and anecdotes of animals who died shortly after they lost a loved one, of elderly couples who would immediately follow each other into the heavens, seemingly unable to live without the other by their side.

  
It always touched Claude to read these tales and at the same time, Claude couldn’t deny the little pang of jealousy towards these stories. Taking his own life was never in his mind, no. He wasn’t living hopelessly. He had a purpose and he had a family that depended on him. But living in a state of constant yearning could be...heavy. A yearning that he knew was impossible to fulfill in this life.

  
It was twelve years since Byleth’s death, twelve years of Claude living a life with her in his dreams while harboring a yearning for her in his wake.

  
Twelve years since, was when his body and soul decided to say enough was enough.

  
It was early morning and Claude felt a pain in his head that he never felt before. A case of migraine was no stranger to him, although in the recent years he felt them increasing in intensity. He thought it was because of his age and increasing stress. But that particular morning headache was nothing he ever experienced. His head felt as if it was being split open, his vision blurry. His stomach churned unpleasantly and his body wouldn’t move to his accord. 

  
He saw black.

  
The next thing he knew, he woke up in a pristine white room, an IV drip attached to right arm. He saw Alden and Cyrus’ worried and anxious faces hovering over him.  _ Wait, shouldn’t they be at school right now? _

  
They told him he had passed out in the kitchen but not before he showed seizure-like movements.

  
Seizures? He never had seizures before.

  
The doctor then came in and told him the reason behind his ailment. 

  
Glioblastoma.

  
Stage 4 brain cancer.

  
They expected him to only have the next couple of months. A year would be a miracle.

  
Claude was washed over with fear and excitement when the doctor gave the news. Fear of leaving behind the people he held dear. Fear of the unknown, of dying. Yet at the same time, excitement that his years of longing and silent prayers would finally be answered.

  
He only managed two and a half months.

  
In his last moments, Claude was bed-ridden, unable to eat or even speak. He felt pain all over to the point where he felt numb. He saw flashes of his life in his head. And then a tiny voice somewhere inside him. Calling him.

_  
I’m waiting for you, Khalid. _

  
For the past few days, people had been coming in and out of his room, his friends, the Eisners. They came to say their goodbyes.

  
Now by his bed-side were his parents along with the boys, grief-stricken and in tears. He wanted to speak to them, to give them a few last words. He wanted to tell the boys how proud he was of them, how proud he was of the people that they had grown to become. He wanted to tell them how sorry he was that he wouldn’t be present in their next steps of life. To be there for their college graduations. To see them embark on their first jobs. But he was sure they would do well and achieve much in life.

  
As for his parents, he wanted to tell them how thankful he was to be born as their child. Thanking them for their endless support and love.

  
His lips wouldn’t move and he couldn’t utter a single word. He could only manage several grunts.

  
“I hope you know how much we love you baba,” Cyrus sobbed by his side, “thank you for giving us the life we never expected to have. We’ll make sure to make you proud in the future.”

  
“You won’t be in pain soon Claude,” added Alden, tears running down his face, “and you will see Miss Byleth soon. It’s what you have wanted your whole life.”

  
Tiana cried into Ehab’s shoulder, unable to muster any strength to remain composed. Ehab held her tight to him.

  
“You have been nothing but a source of pride to us, son,” he spoke, “what you have achieved up until now and your aspirations, the courage you took to make your dreams a reality won’t be gone to waste and the fruits of your labor will remain for many years to come.”

  
Tiana slowly pulled away from Ehab and walked over to Claude, taking his hand in hers.

  
“I’ll miss you Khalid,” Tiana sobbed. “But if this means you won’t be in pain, then we are willing to let you go. Please be happy forever with the person your heart seeks the most.”

  
He managed a smile at their words. At least, he thought he had smiled. A strange feeling of calmness permeated him as his consciousness began to fade away.

_  
I’m coming, my star. _

-

Claude found himself standing in an unfamiliar land. All around him were trees of various types, their leaves golden and orange like the autumn season. He spotted a small lake nearby. He walked over to the body of water and looked down to see his reflection, surprised to see that his late-twenties self was looking back at him, the hints of wrinkles and gray hair that he had grown accustomed to gone from his features.

  
Claude looked down at himself. He was wearing a simple white button up shirt and brown pants.

  
Simple yet sophisticated, he mused.

  
He took in his surroundings. The weather was pleasant. Not too warm, not too cold. Just right. He could hear faint chirps of birds. Fresh wood and fruity scent permeates the air. He felt at peace. Content. Fulfilled. And he couldn’t bring himself to feel any unpleasantness.

  
He took a couple of steps forward, feeling his body light as air. Claude then heard a rustling from somewhere near him. And then, footsteps.

  
He turned to the direction of the sound and the biggest smile broke out on his face.

  
Byleth was standing a few steps away from him, her flowy blue hair gleaming under the warm sun, a serene look that brimmed with affection directed at him. She had on the white summer dress that he loved from the picture he had kept of her. A perfect picture of radiance and beauty. His breath was immediately taken away.

  
“You’re here at last,” she spoke, her voice a melody that his ears had been searching for endlessly.

  
“I’m here,” he nodded at her.

  
She walked towards him and he intertwined her hands in his once she was right in front of him. They stared silently at each other, revelling in the happiness that the others' presence brought upon them.

  
Claude felt his heart soar as he gazed upon her sky blue irises. Those eyes were the answers to his prayers, the ones that fulfilled his life-long yearning.

  
For the first time since he could remember, he felt truly at peace and complete.

  
"This it right? Our final destination?" he asked.

  
Byleth nodded at him. "There won't be anymore guessing after this, no more restarts and hurdles to bypass," she curled her fingers around his, "it's you and me for eternity."

  
Claude leaned down towards her until their noses brushed. "I never stopped loving you for a second."

  
"Me neither," she whispered back, "I've been waiting for you all this time, Khalid... I still can't believe this is happening."

  
"It's real," he murmured low, his lips inching closer to hers. "I'm here."

  
They closed the gap between them, kissing like the other was what they needed to stay alive. Her kisses were still as he remembered it to be--warm and tantalizing, her lips was a place he wouldn't mind being lost in for the rest of his life. 

  
They pulled apart, fulfilled and content. That was enough for now, for they have an eternity ahead of them to share many more loving and passionate moments. Right now, they just wanted to make sure that everything was real. That they were together. That the perpetual fire of affection which existed within them was not an illusion.

  
Claude scanned his surroundings for a second before meeting his eyes with hers once more. "So is autumn in season now?"

  
Byleth smiled. "This place can be whatever and however you want it to be. Right now it's autumn because it's your favorite season and.." she lifted a hand to caress the side of his gently, "it's when we both began to fall in love with each other, in every lifetime. Even when neither of us realized it."

  
Claude let out a light laugh. "You're right...I never thought about that.." He put his arms around her and pulled her closer to him. A gentle blew past them, bringing several stray leaves flying around them, dancing to the sonata of their romance.

  
"I love you, my star and my life," Claude whispered to her ear, the words he had been saying over and over to a single picture now reaching her at last.

  
"I love you too, my eternal shining moon," she replied back, soft and tender.

  
Their lips sought each other's once more, speaking words that were impossible to convey. 

  
It was their much anticipated end to thousands of years' worth of journey.

  
And in each others' arms lay their final resting place. A place filled with everything they ever sought for in life- of love, of joy, of hope.

  
A place where their dreams could finally come to life.

\---

_How long does it last_   
_Can love be measured by the hours in a day_   
_I have no answers now but this much I can say_   
_I know I'll need him 'till the stars all burn away_

_\--- Love Story, Bunga Citra Lestari (A remake rendition of Andy William's Love Story)_

**Author's Note:**

> It has been a pretty much roller-coaster year and regardless of whatever state you are in I want to congratulate you for making it this far into a pretty tough year! You are awesome for hanging on so far and I pray that everything will fall into place for you soon (and I wish you all good health!)
> 
> Also, find me on twitter **@themartinny** (if you want), because I'm looking for more moots to scream about Claudeleth with me/FE3H or other fandoms in general.


End file.
